Florence And The Machine - Lungs

After picking up the Brits critics award at the start of the year with two well received singles, and appearing on virtually every single Ones To Watch list including our very own, the last six months have been a daunting journey for Florence And The Machine. Recent hit single Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) saw Florence Welch dealing and recognising this journey, grappling with the idea of propulsion into a much bigger world of exposure as she sang “This is a gift it comes with a price, who is the lamb and who is the knife.” Florence may as well get used to the price she has to pay, as the idea is now set to become reality - we are sure that Lungs will do the business.

This is a big, ballsy album full of tribal drums, pagan harps and breathy gutsy immense vocals that grab you in and lift you to new levels. The constructions of the songs on Lungs bear structural similarities to dance anthems, pushing higher and higher, and it is therefore no surprise to see live favourite, her cover version of disco classic You Got The Love (subtly renamed You‘ve Got The Love) included at the end of the record. The other much talked about reference points of Kate Bush and Bat For Lashes with their spiritual and gothic mysticism are also accurate; imagery of coffins, werewolves, saints and darkness giving Lungs the sense of being a record of its own unique time and place rather than a fashionable pop record. This is despite production duties for the majority of the recording being handled by James Ford and Paul Epworth, two of the most hip and in demand producers around.

Lungs is an album that works as a complete whole. Quite simply there are very few weak moments on it. Only I’m Not Calling You A Liar is a little flat, the vocals grating a little, seeming to lack a direction or pure melody. Other than this though every song is brutally good. Songs full of drenches of passion, soaring crescendos and studio polished intensity abound. From the edgy blues of Girl With One Eye, the string laden, clattering church like intensity of Blinding to the sweet hopscotch start stop of Between Two Lungs with a chorus that flows to the heavens, Lungs is consistantly excellent.

Florence Welch has been fearless enough to rub away some of her earlier rough edges, but has not lost the soul and power that made her such an interesting prospect in the first place. Lungs delivers. Big time.

Russians vs Britney Spears

We're on blog exile at the moment (back Monday for a full weeks worth of catching up), but in the meantime enjoy Russian people enjoying Britney Spears. Proof that a great pop song crosses borders, cultures and genres.

If Music Be The Food Of Love

Here's something a little different. If music be the food of love, play on. Give me excess of it. That’s what old Shakespeare said. It would seem that these couples at the Blur gig at Hyde Park, London and the Sasquatch Festival, Washington took the music being the food of love to its ultimate conclusion. We wonder how long these two will stay on You Tube before they are taken down ?

It seems like everyone at Sasquatch had a fine old time. If you haven’t seen the dancing man starts dance party clips yet, you really should (below). The psychologists amongst you can analyse a group behaviour model and talk knowledgeably about emergent-norm theory and convergence theory. The rest of us can just laugh. We’re just glad that such behaviour didn’t occur in the first two videos.

Chew Lips - Salt Air

Solo by London based Chew Lips was ace. A competent and primitive slice of electro pop with enough melody and strong Liza Minnelli meets Karen O styled vocal to get the head nodding and the hips shaking. The follow up, Salt Air released later this month follows Solo’s lead and casio grooves its way along with a slightly more subtle tune than its predecessor and fists in the air pulsing keyboards. As lead singer Tigs bellows “You’ve been drinking, you’ve been driving, crashed your car, said a prayer,” we can easily find ourselves dizzily spinning on the dance floor, drunk with the rush, but as we dance we wonder if this song is just a little too obvious and derivative of artists such as La Roux and Little Boots that have already hit the mainstream ? The dance floor is crowded with electro dance pop acts right now and we suspect that Chew Lips are going to have to throw their musical arms and legs about a bit more to get some space.