Lungs - Florence & The Machine

“Lungs” is the London-based indie pop band Florence & The Machine's debut album, released on July 6th 2009. The band consists of Florence Welch (vocalist) and “the Machine”; Florence's backing band, whose current line-up consists of guitarist Robert Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden, keyboardist Isabella Summers, and harpist Tom Monger.

Already long before the album's much anticipated release, critics all over Europe praised Welch's unarguably unique voice and several of said critics has predicted a very bright future for Welch and her band - claiming she's got that special pop star quality about her.

And are these critics right about claiming such things? One listen to “Lungs” clearly is enough to convince at least me that this could perhaps be the best debut album of 2009, and that these critics are not at all lying or sugar coating their words.

The first single off the album is “Kiss With a Fist”, a song which according to Welch is about “giving as good as you you get.” and whose lyrics have been widely discussed for revolving around violence in relationships - but in a rather humorous way, followed by the singles “Dog Days Are Over”, “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)”, and “Drumming Song”.

Just like the first single “Kiss With a Fist”, a lot of the other songs on “Lungs” revolve around the subject of death and violence. When questioned about this in an interview with NME, Welch responded, “Well, what other subjects are there? I remember realizing my parents were going to die and weeping. Weeping as if my father had actually died.”

While most of the songs have rather melancholic lyrics, several of the melodies will most likely make you think of fantasy, dreams and magic.

It's not a overstatement to call this band unique, because not only is Florence's voice breath-taking and their lyrics exceptionally good, but how often do you hear a harp matching the whole indie pop sound so perfectly? Or to be more accurate: How often do you hear a harp in today's music? Not too often, I would suppose.

In my opinion none of the songs are better than the others; it's a matter of taste, of course, but they're all inexplicably amazing and easy to listen to; be it the melodramatic “Girl With One Eye” or the more catchy, dance-suitable tunes of “Kiss With a Fist”.

There is almost no doubt everyone will find at least one track on this album they will enjoy, regardless of whether you usually listen to pop, rock, or soul.

Many critics have praised this album for being, as aforementioned, extremely easy to listen to and having a winter vibe to it. One also noted that all the songs “merge together seamlessly, making the album sound like one long fluid song.”, which you might notice when listening to the album, is very accurate.

“Lungs” will be released physically in the US on October 20th by Island Records, and is definitely worth every penny spent on it.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org, en.wikipedia.org