Oh man. I’m really excited. Over the past few weeks I’ve stumbled across a handful of tracks by Florence and the Machine, and have become really taken with them. For the record, I’d like to say that Florence is one hell of a looker, even if The Machine is less so (pictured, right; it was hard to find an image with the dudes in it too. Photo Credit: Foxy Roses).

That aside, the music is fantastic. I first caught wind of them playing a really good cover of Beirut’s ‘Postcard’s From Italy‘, which is no small task to pull off (take it from me; I’ve heard it botched), especially if you abandon the horns that are the emotional backing of that song!

I really wanted to wait until I’d had a chance to grab a copy of Lungs, their album that dropped just earlier this month, but I really wanted to share the music, and I had some time. Simply put, her (Florence Welch) vocals are hell-of-powerful. Not quite as finessed or lilting as Neko Case (who hails from the New Pornographers, recall), or as wispy as Imogen Heap, Florence has a good deal of force behind her singing. You can hear it in ‘Howl‘, particularly in the final build-up, around 2 minutes, 30 seconds into the song.

To give credit where credit is due, though, The Machine deserves due props as well. Vocals alone can’t carry a group. Just ask the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Karen O can belt and squeal all she wants, and do a good job of it, but a lot of their stuff (for me anyways) still falls flat. The example I want to use here is ‘Cosmic Love‘: Listen to the grandeur they paint with this track; they have to, with the subject matter being something as big and expansive as the universe!

So anyways. I’m gonna grab Lungs as soon as I can. It shows tremendous promise from the above two tracks (‘Postcards’ isn’t on the record), which is more than enough to convince me to give it a try; I’ll report back with the final verdict.

PURCHASE:
Lungs – Florence + The Machine