Lungs- A breathe of angelic beauty mixed with dark bombast.

Music Review- Florence + the Machine- Lungs (2009)

It is clear that Florence Welch is a literary fan as Lungs is sprinkled with references to literature throughout and is jammed full of beautiful metaphors of communication. Her lyrics are her strongest feature where she has a rawness and vulnerability in showing some dark aspects of her personality and love life. But, it is all done with a metaphorical gloss that makes it feel elevated and beautiful. Her rawness doesn't stop with the lyrics as it is continued through her delivery. Often going from a soft coo to a belt in the space of a second, Welch has full control over her voice and uses it to add an extra layer of angelic beauty onto the lyrics. All of this works in harmony with the clean and bombastic production that adds an earthy grounding to her work and gives it the perfect world to absorb the listener in. That is the main point: you will get lost in this album. Whether it is through the lyrics, voice or production you will fly away into a heavenly land of euphoria and bombast and you will never want to leave.

As a debut album, it is clear Welch has a strong identity and knows how she wants to use her voice. It is usual to find with a first album an artist venturing in many directions to find their sound, so it is commendable that she is so confident in her work and has a clear sense of who she is. This confidence is also brought to her sound, her big voice and even bigger production gives the album a sense of grandeur that only comes with jumping in with two feet. There is nothing tame about this piece of work.

Though there are some tracks that miss the mark, they are in the tiniest of minorities. But, there are a selection of tracks that are larger in number that come close to amazing though only get so close. This may be because there are a handful of tracks that are out of this world good that anything else pails in comparison. If Welch could bridge the gap and maintain a bit more consistency across the album then it would be perfection. But, at the moment she has delivered a solid debut that lays the foundations of a phenomenal career and offers up some tracks that other artists could only dream to achieve in their lifespan.

Album Review- 8/10

Track by Track breakdown:

Dog Days are Over- With a cute harp backing a clap beat, this song builds into a bombastic chorus. It is the perfect introduction to Ms. Welch as the electrifying vocals paired with the gorgeous imagery and an epic production makes for an outer-body experience that has become synonymous with Florence and the Machine. The sound is clean and ethereal with an earthy grounded feel to it and Flo's raw vocals make it an exemplary track. As she states, the period of decline is over and the good days are upon us; Ms. Welch's reign has just begun and with her she brings the fire of horses and a sense of raw passion that is lost in a lot of popular music. (9)

Rabbit Heart- On Rabbit Heart, Flo peels back the bombast, but only slightly to create a fairy-tale experience that has high stakes and beauty. The lyrics go on an Alice in Wonderland adventure through the rabbit hole of ''looking glasses'' and ''wrong pill(s) to take'' with literary references to King Midas: the selfish ruler who could turn everything to Gold. Midas has had his hands all over this track as it is gold to the core. With a joyous beat that is as bouncy as a rabbit and lyrics about trying to be brave to find your strength and inner treasure, it is a gift. Again, the stripped production is refreshing and gives the track an ethereal vibe with the layers of organs, harps, and synths. Using her higher register, it is one that you can only attempt to sing a long too as you wont hit the notes, but you will certainly try either way. (8)

I'm not calling you a liar- A wondrous narrative as Flo's clear demands from the first verse slowly degrade as she goes from a figure of strength to ''I love you so much, I'm going to let you kill me''. It's an interesting interpretation of the way love is disarming and you let your lover get away with so much that you thought you were strong enough to stop. Flo's soft delivery and the backing vocals give the song an airy angelic feel like you are being drifted off into beautiful submission. The listener has no control, but to be drifted off in her voice and to fall into this trance of love. It is gorgeous in premise, but its tad repetitive nature and lack of energy to give it a knock out punch means it misses the mark that other Flo songs have. Though that is not to say it is bad. (7)

Howl- An animistic and wild ride. The song has strong gory images of dragging teeth across chests, fingers clawing skin and tearing out all tenderness; it shows the darker side of love that is more animal-like and savage. But, it is sung so beautifully that you could never believe that Ms. Welch is capable of any of these things. It gives beauty to the moments of love where you lack control and just get swung up in all the emotions and the sex and the more animistic moments of love. It is a frenzy of passion. We are not always sophisticated and often there is a raw adrenaline of just running with what your body tells you and letting your heart take the helm off of your head. The chorus fuels this idea as her long howls and repetitions of hunter lets you get swept up in this track and have an outer body experience that lends itself to the heart. (9)

Kiss with a fist- A chaotic song that captures an equally chaotic and problematic relationship. ''My Black eye that casts no shadow'', Flo uses physical abuse as a metaphor for emotional instability and passionate arguments. The song has a fiery attitude and a twisted logic mixing up angry passion for good love. Even the chorus ''A kiss with a fist is better than none'' tries to normalise this sense that any passion is better than nothing, but it's clear of her escalation of the attacks that this passion is uncontrollable and problematic and a relationship like this will only end in destruction. Two passionate people that tear chunks out of each other emotionally is not a healthy relationship and Flo puts that on display in this song. It's twisted, but interesting. The guitar is heavy and chaotic with percussion to suit. It's a bit all over the place and a bit much, but certainly interesting. (5)

Girl with one eye- A song not written by Welch and you can tell. The song feels out of place on the album. With the lighter ethereal tones of previous songs ditched for the darker and heavier sound, the song has a distinct tone but not the best one. The slow burn of the beginning to go into the heavier cacophony of percussion, violin scratches and bombast of the latter half feels too much. It just feels drowned in its own weight and rather clunky and over the top. It's unnecessary bombast for an overtly repetitive song with very little to give reason to its large stature. (3)

Drumming Song- The track is an interesting metaphor for the suffocating nature of love. The way it grabs hold of you and fills up your head and doesn't let you go. It is certainly a relatable track for when love takes over your brain and you can't hear anything else except the heavy drum. The chorus with its short snappy syntax mirrors a drum like beat and will get stuck in your head like the love it describes. The songs restraint is its strongest feature as it never goes full bombastic, but remains in the tribal-like tone that takes over your head, but never explodes. It is a great song though not an excellent one. It is one you will enjoy listening to, but not really choose to go back to. (6)

Between two Lungs- A cute ditty that the strings, harp and piano carry into ethereal beauty. It is a cute interpretation of love and a relationship between two people. Flo's softer delivery and the clap beat give the song a round-the-campfire-with-a-tambourine kind of feel. It's soft and sweet with an effortless feel that is captivating. It's not a song to write home about, but it isn't trying to be; it lives in its own little bubble and it is beautiful for that fact. (7)

Cosmic Love- It's through this song that Florence's dislike of words becomes its clearest, throughout the album she communicates with her partner with anything but words (breath, punches, and many other physical manifestations of communication) and this song is no different: ''A falling star fell from your heart and landed in my eye''. It is through these metaphors that her relationship problems manifest: '' I can hear your heart beat, I tried to find the sound, but then it stopped''. It is clear that Florence gets swept up in the feelings and the cosmic beauty of love that she struggles to communicate with her head and her words and eventually the love gets lost; she gets so caught up in the emotions and gets blasted off out of this world that she often gets left lost and lonely as her lover ''left her in the dark''. It is a beautiful track that has phenomenal lyricism and a gorgeous delivery. Flo's delivery is in harmony with the fantastic production to match the cosmic beauty and the sweeping feelings of love; a listener will get lost in her world like she does with her love. It is such a powerful and beautiful track that is as euphoric on first listen as it is on the millionth. (10)

My Boy builds Coffins- A haunting expression of the inevitability of death, it is interesting and washes over the listener in a chilling fashion. But, the tunes subdued nature means it doesn't hit the heights of other tracks from the album and is left as a tepid exploration of dark themes in a murky style. Its softness in nature forces its repetitive cracks to shine through and prevents the track from being one of the better slices off the album. It is certainly a quaint track, but not much more. (6)

Hurricane Drunk- The chorus that hits you right in the gut. Trying to get over a relationship, Ms. Welch decides to drink her sorrows away and goes out to find her ex dancing with someone new. It is harsh. It is relatable and oh so painful. Though the chorus hits hard, the end gives a sense of victory as she repeats ''I'm going out'' as even though she is hurting it is clear she isn't going to let it stop her. The cute melody of the production is airy and light offering a sense of peace in the crazy situation. For a whirlwind title, the track is rather tame, but not in a bad sense. By the end, the listener is fully supporting her decisions and commanding for her to go out and have a good time. (7)

Blinding- One to turn up loud and let it consume your being. It is an experience with the pounding drum beat and dashes of harps and strings it is one to get lost in. When the chorus hits it sends you into an ethereal state and leaves you hanging in her words. It is beautiful yet sad; Welch comes to terms with being a dreamer and tries to ground herself and become less consumed by fairytales and see the real world. ''No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body'' she is sick of her loneliness and wants to stop feeling like an annoying desperate creature. It is heartfelt and difficult to hear her be so vulnerable. Also, the last breath is haunting. (8)

You've got the love- A victory song through and through. Welch's rendition of the song brings the lyrics to life and gives it a sense of vigour that makes it explode in celebration. It is one to play after any time anything good happens in life. It is an addicting song with an exciting energy that is uplifting. Again, it is another one of Flo's tracks that gets better the louder you play it. (9)