Lungs [VINYL] (Vinyl)

Not bad for a Ginga :o) It's been difficult to miss this fiery redhead this summer with appearances at Glasto and just about everywhere else it seems. Finally my heart over-ruled my head (which was fighting against the hype) and I got some Lungs. Glad I did to be honest as it's a stormer that greatly showcases Florence's fantastic vocal and lyrical versatility. The girl really does have a great set of lungs and uses them to great effect in this album mixing gothic chic with an indie edge. Very breathy, sexy, powerful and just the right side of shouty at times, her voice is tailor made for these songs. I'm a fan of bonkers birds like Bjork, and our Flo shares vocal and eccentric traits with my favourite swan wearing Icelander. This is a good thing with Debut being one of my favourite albums. At other times she compares mostly to the wonderful Dolores of the Cranberries, (if you like this you will love No Need to Argue) though where she gets the Gaelic twang from, being a Londoner is anybodies guess. Aside from the hits, there are some quirky songs here also - My Boy builds Coffins stands out for me, ditto the rocking Hurricane Drunk. She pulls no punches with the Morrisey-esque Kiss With a Fist but the cover of Candi Staton's You've Got the Love (some songs should be left alone) is a disappointment and one of the original reasons behind my reluctance to buy. That aside, this is a fresh, rocking and well polished debut album and the best I've bought this year.

Awesome When I decided to buy this album I had only really heard a few of Florence's tracks, but I decided to take a gamble. It turns out, this is now on of the most worn CDs in my collection, I might have to buy a second copy this one spends so much time popping in and out of my CD player. Not many artists makes it 6 weeks, let alone months in my collection without being moved from the pile by the CD player to the rack, but so far Florence is still sitting proud, top of the pile!

Love, Love, Love! Absolutely brilliant cd. Can't stop listening to it, Im buying it for everyone's birthday :-)

Florence and the macines On a little wander through Spotify I saw a name I had heard before but realised I'd never actually listened to. Florence and the machines bought out Lungs as a debut album in 2009, its a wonderful group with a mix of pop and an indie style. The songs have character and charisma and Florence has a powerful voice, a good similarity is Marina and the diamonds. ===Album=== So being a first album the artists need to grab the listeners and forge a following. So heres the song reviews ..... Dog days are over - Right from the start this one's nice to listen to , a brilliant string of simple , repetitive chords are played drawing in the listener with its angelic noise. Florence comes in with the first few lines , sounding like she's in the distance and with a growing raise to her vocals she jumps out. Suddenly a series of claps in the background brings up the tempo and a couple of hits on the high hat of the drums eases this along, the heavenly sound is raised more by the series of ooooohs from an unkown group. As the chorus hits a simple tap of the piano makes the music grow and grow until the drums and piano are fully released into a head bobbing rhythm and the plea from Florence to " run fast for your mother , run fast for your father " , the music then seems to die away with a sparkle until the formula is repeated one more time like an encore. If this is the benchmark for the album im very excited 5/5 no doubt , and a fantastic radio song. Rabbit heart - The sounds of a chinese waterfall flow through the headphones as well as a quick drumbeat, this song really takes on the Alice in wonderland story from the beggining with the lyrics " look through your looking glass , so shiny and new ". This is going along nicely, a strange jumpiness then enters as out of nowhere the backing singers seem to get a little over excited and want to do some dreamgirls esque singing, every few words is then repeated by them and this makes it a little tiresome. The audio towards the middle also seems to be a little out of whack and difficult to hear Florence, this transforms though as the chorus drops , another powerful few vocals from her reminds the listener who she is and that its her album. Like the previous song, the lyrics die out to be repeated with the same beat and feeling. This isn't a firm favorite of mine but it is still a nice listen 4/5. Im not calling you a liar - This begins to take the album in a different direction, the song is a lot more slow and deliberate, a steady drum beat lives throughout the background and it makes the whole song very tense. A piano arrives lifting the emotional feel of the song and make it even more emotional with the words "Im not calling you a ghost , but stop haunting me". The angleic noise of the dreamgirl wannabe's return giving the powerful edge which is becoming a constant theme , unlike the other songs this one never seems to hit that high . The second half is spent with Florence riding the harp chords and the melody barely catching on. 2/5 Howl - A city scape sets up this song with a pulsing noise, single piano notes resonate against the dullness and a rolling drums comes in. A strange noise like a 70's spaceship dances through the backing and Florence doesn't seem to be making much sense. Ill be honest this song is a complete mismatch of whatever the producer had on his keyboard , worst of the album 1/5 Kiss with a fist - Hello again Florence , good to hear you. Starting with no background means all the emotion is in her voice, the lyrics are then repeated with a brilliant electric guitar which raises the mood from the previous attempt. A real little rock tune about domestic abuse, not the sort of thing to sing about but hey " A kiss with a fist is better than none " right ? , this is a return to form 5/5 Girl with one eye - a ditry bond sounding electric guitar kicks us off , Florence arrives with a slow , slightly temperd start . Apparently Ms. Florence doesn't get on too well with people as after being warned about stepping on cracks, she takes a knife to this persons eys and took it home . Rather strange but the song actually draws you in with its dirty and exciting vocals, a couple of hits of Florences rising voice ends the song with a big rock finish. 3/5 Drumming song - well this does what it says on the tin, cue drums and go ! the vocals start with Florence proclaiming "Theres a drumming noise inside my heart that starts when your around", the song carrys on with the vocals hitting alongide the reppetitive drum beat and the song doesn't get a chance to drop. This is one of the top songs on the album and also features in the Fifa WC game 5/5 Between two lungs - whistling and a slow drum beat are played with a couple of hand claps thrown in , Florence turns up like a siren floating from the mist. Unfortunatley the breathy singing that makes it a little difficult to hear what her story is returns and clouds what is an intresting little instrumental. Luckily the albums name sake redeems itself a little in the middle as a little verse shows Florence isn't all about shouting and she can take the slow and more conventional singing. 3/5 Cosmic love - the chinese feel returns as the lyrics sing of the moon and stars dissapearing as her lover has left her in the dark. A pretty sad song and a little too emo for my liking but this album does capture a mismatch of styles. My boy builds coffins - A jumpy acoustic beat pushes us into the next and a song about a boy building coffins for everyone. Another song from the album which is sad and doesn't sound great , but strangely draws you in. Florences singing is clear and puts emotion into the words, 4/5 Hurricane drunk - Waves and chinese feel re-enters and a headbobing set of lyrics is released by Florence , the song continues as she reminds the listeners "things cant get any worse". Another radio track and it does well. 4/5 Blinding - laughing and cooing in the difference brings us back down to a dark place and ghostly lyrics , filled with a church piano chord is a little scary. The lyrics tell of Florence is being held down and being drowned, one thing thats amazing in the album is her ability to go from very happy and powerful to dark. Not one of her best 2/5 You got the love - possibly the song she is most known for and the reason many would have bought the album. a slow electric guitar plays in the background followed by the well known drums. Florence sings her clearest in this one and its definatley the biggest radio track , the chorus consists of "you got the love , ye you got the love". The powerful vocals and the nice guitar chords makes this is a very good song 5/5 Bird song - starts off with an intro track which mixes the chinese beats with drums and a touch of pan pipes before the true song hits. The actual song couldn't be more different , a slow flowing tune reaches out and drags the listener along , she starts off sounding a little like Amy whinehouse , before telling of how the bird is killed . This sound takes on a feel of the drumming song , but again its a mismatch of tunes and doesn't do either well 2/5 Hardest hearts - Unfortunatley were not finishing with a high in this album and nothing seems to fit, the lyrics , drums and emotions isn't there. The album finishes on a terrible 1/5 ===Overall=== A real mismatch album and definatley one which you may want to download single songs.

Really good I'm not a big fan of Florence, but this really is very good. A stunning sonic performance!