Florence and the Machine “Lungs” Review
Listeners of Lungs, the debut album by Florence and the Machine, are bound to be angered, which is good seeing as the record is a fervent blend of indie-rock, soul, and dance-ready music that underlays jaded but powerful “don’t mess with me” lyrics. Unfortunately listeners may not be angry for the same reasons as Florence is in her begrudging songs like “Howl” and “The Dog Days Are Over.” At best, Florence and the Machine is likely to make listeners angry because the concept is so cool—one artist slamming to a bunch of electronic and indie musicians in a fierce bundle of quick paced songs ready for the dance floor or a drive on the highway—yet Florence’s voice is unwaveringly similar on almost every song.
Then again, the blame shouldn’t fall solely on the singer. With such an eclectic ensemble behind Florence (including manager Mairead Nash of Queens of Noize) it’s a wonder that the songs don’t have more of a variety too them. This should have served to mix things up a bit to keep Florence from sounding too much much like the love child of Grace Slick and Chan Marshall. But unfortunately it doesn’t.
Despite their similarities, the tracks on Lungs are undeniably powerful and evoke a transcending, larger than life feeling. This is largely due to Florence’s lyrics. “Kiss With A Fist” is the most rocking-est, fist pumping song on the album while “Girl With One Eye” and “I’m Not Calling You A Liar” remain the album’s stand-out tracks. “Cosmic Love” sounds like it was strongly influenced by Enya yet it carries a feel similar to most everything else on the album. In this way, the album is reminiscent of Coldplay in the sense that X&Y seemed to cash in on Chris Martin’s vocal skills in a trite sequel to Rush of Blood To The Head. The songs on Lungs seem to frantically ride in on the wave of raw energy that is Florence’s voice instead of working with the singer’s blatant talent to create the challenging, yet pop-sensible songs that she is clearly capable of.
[Review by guest contributor Dan Bindschedler.]
“ ‘Cosmic Love’ sounds like it was strongly influenced by Enya”? Really??? This is sad, and borderline pathetic. Is your musical knowledge so limited that you can only refer to Enya as a comparison? Maybe because there is a harp in the mix you got confused. Really, really sad. But at least you know who Grace Slick is, I mean, that’s something, right? I can obviously speak only for myself, but the only thing that has me “angered” is this review and your sore lack of knowledge.
For those of you who are reading this, wondering whether or not to purchase “Lungs”, go for it. This is a stellar album from a wonderful new artist. Is it perfect? No, but few albums in general are, not to mention debut albums. There are some songs that don’t seem to belong, or that might have been better suited for a different album, but all in all, “Lungs” is fresh, rousing and, if I had to describe it in one word, addictive.
Maybe Florence’s voice does sound the same on every song- but by no means do the songs themselves sound alike. Drumming song sounds nothing like Cosmic Love, which doesn’t sound anything like Dog Days, etc etc…
I can’t believe you compared them to Coldplay. I don’t mind Coldplay, but they could never write a song like Blinding, or for that matter; they could never match up to the calibre that is Lungs.