Review:

on 2010-05-04 Jonathan_Kroening Said:

Intimidating in magnitude, Lungs is the muscle car of indie pop.

One thing is clear: this girl can sing. So Lungs seems like an appropriate title for Florence Welchs debut album under the recording name of Florence And The Machine. Her vocal command is compelling and carries every song on a record that has little, if no, low moments.

As a debut that well lives up to the hype, Lungs is quite possibly the best pop indie album of 2009. With standout tracks like Cosmic Love, Dog Days Are Over, and Drumming, Welch approaches each tune with conviction and appetite. Emblazoning themes of death, violence, and estrangement, the fervor of her delivery and the enormity of the orchestration can very nearly be overwhelming, and frisky moments like lead single Kiss With A Fist are necessary to settle the aggression.

Her penchant for grandiosity is perhaps best on display in the climax of Girl With One Eye, a tune that borrows a chord-substituted version of the widely used flamenco money chord progression. As a harmonic variation of classics such as Nina Simones Feeling Good, The Turtles Happy Together, and Ray Charles Hit The Road Jack (to name a few), Welch blasts through its final chorus like a bat out of hell. Whatever hell it was she came from, the songs of Lungs, start to finish, are her exorcism as she proclaims: between two lungs it was released.

4.5 / 5 stars

-Jonathan Kroening
http://www.itsjustmusic.net
Rating: 9/10

Review:

on 2009-08-23 Yergman Said:

Florence Welch might get lumped in with her other British alt-pop peers that have popped up here in America like Kate Nash and Lily Allen, but there is no other comparison between them and Welch other than the UK connection.
For one, Welch's voice is bursting with power and soul, filling out each melody with nuance and color, matching or exceeding the loud, heavy arrangements that border on Spector filtered through hard funk and Motown soul.
The opener gets things going with a fast moving beat, but doesn't really work as an indication of the darker moments that the album frequently deals in.
'Rabbit Fist (Raise It Up)' really opens up the sound, placing Welch in a swirling sea of keys, strings, and drums, a setting that suits her considerable vocal talents very well, and is used to even greater effect later on in tracks like 'Cosmic Love'.
The stripped down garage-pop on 'Kiss With a Fist' works on her ability to change up her voice, but is not one of the highlights, but the stripped down lounger 'Girl With One Eye' features a slinking melody that builds to an exhilarating climax that soars into the stratosphere.
Her ability to bring the melodies to life and hold her own with these full bodied, muscular arrangements are a signal of a great new talent on the scene. A thrilling debut.
Rating: 9/10

on 2009-08-03 mountaloha Said:

I got the album after I read this review and I have to say Archelon was spot on. This is a really good album.
Rating: 8/10

on 2009-08-03 dscanland Said:

Just found out about this band myself. Be sure to check out my podcast tomorrow. Florence is included!
Not Rated

Review:

on 2009-08-02 Archelon Said:

Newcomers to the indie scene in London in early 2009, Florence and the Machine is the recording name of Florence Welch et. al. for the purposes of her debut album 'Lungs'. And what a debut it is.

I should mention as well that even before this album was released, Florence and co had been invited to play Glastonbury, Leeds and Reading festivals, supported Blur at Hyde Park, won Critic's Choice at the BRITs and tipped for a Mercury Prize. A lot fo pressure, but it seems to have squeezed out a wonderfully gothic offering of indie-soul.

The slbum begins with an upbeat poppy track called 'Dog Days Are Over' - and it's just HAPPY, and then continues to the soaring 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)'. Another major high point comes in the form of 'Drumming', a poignant love song with some more amazing harps and strings. Florence's voice takes you all the way through from breathy whispers to echoing crescendo and fits the arrangements beautifully. 'Hurricane Drunk' is a real charmer - delicate and harpy.

There are a few minor lows - the lyrics to 'Girl With One Eye' verge on disturbing which seems not to fit with the gleeful Tim-Burton-meets-Care-Bears vibe of the rest of the album. But after the last notes of the cd die away you're left with a feeling of exhilaration, and not in an easy-peasy-pop kind of way.
Rating: 9/10