CD Odyssey Disc 268: Florence and the Machine

I've rolled a fair bit of music lately that I've only recently become aware of. First it was The Dead Weather's "Horehound" at Disc 263 and now this next album.

Disc 268 is...Between Two Lungs
Artist: Florence and the Machine

Year of Release: 2010

What’s Up With The Cover?: I like this cover. An arty portrait of Florence herself. This is the kind of album I'd like to see on folk albums, rather than the stilted personal photos they tend to choose. I think it would be fair to say that Florence Welch is oddly beautiful, but beautiful nonetheless.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of Sheila's purchases, so I claim no knowledge of this band until Sheila bought it. She had heard good things and really liked the single, "Dog Days Are Over".

How It Stacks Up: This is the only Florence and the Machine album we own, and I believe it is their debut, so there aren't any other ones to get at present. Consequently, it doesn't really stack up.

Rating: 3 stars.

In the teaser I mentioned having recently reviewed the "Dead Weather". In that band, Alison Mossheart shows what Jack White might sound like if he were a woman.

Florence Welch sounds like what Jack White would sound like if he were a woman who preferred indie-pop music over blues rock. Admittedly, my rock predilection found me liking the result less than The Dead Weather, but hey - that's just personal taste

That said, "Between Two Lungs" has a lot going for it, and was easy to enjoy over the past few days in my car. Florence has an amazing and very distinct voice - it is sort of a cross between Michelle Shocked, Amber Webber from "Black Mountain" and maybe a dash of Amy Winehouse if she was singing disco at the time. Whatever the exact mixture, it is hard to miss, and mostly enjoyable (although on rare occasions a little shrieky).

The smash hit "Dog Days Are Over" is a catchy song, that has not yet been ruined by overplay (or if it has, I wouldn't know, since I spend most of my life in a music radio blackout). Less pleasant is "You've Got the Love", which I assume is a hit because I keep seeing Florence sing it on music award shows. This song is a syrupy pop-song dressed up in indie production. I think this band is generally better than that. When it is combined into a hip hop song with "You've Got the Dirtee Love" it is even worse (and misspelled - maybe deliberately, but that doesn't make it right).

There are more than a few catchy songs, but the one that really drew me in was "Hurricane Drunk" which is a song about drowning your sorrows in a lot (underscore - a lot) of liquor. It sounds even better acoustically as it appears on Disc 2 (more on the negatives to that in a moment). I also like the catch phrase, "Hurricane Drunk" and I think I'll try to adopt it into regular speech. As in, "do you wanna go on a hurricane drunk?"

I have a number of quibbles about this album; all of them minor, but they do add up and keep this record firmly in the 3/5 camp.

First, once again we have an artist that insists on releasing a double album set where a single album would do. Worse, the second album only has one original song ("Heavy In Your Arms") and then is a bunch of remixes, live tracks and acoustic recordings. As I noted above, "Hurricane Drunk" is better as an acoustic song, but that should have been a decision made in the studio to choose just one.

In fact, between remixes, and live tracks, "Dog Days Are Over" appears three times. Who do these guys think they are - Budgie? Call me old fashioned, but I think you should have a few records under your belt before you think you're ready for the live 'here's a shoebox of our old rarities' release.

Second, the band refers to itself as "Florence + The Machine" something I will not deign to do, as "+" is a mathematical symbol, not a word. The more tasteful, and linguistically correct "and" is preferable or if you must make me shudder, at least keep it to the relatively restrained use of an ampersand. I don't like it either, but at least it has some common usage in titles.

The liner notes also irked me, full of pretentious diary-like entries (presumably by Welch) about what inspired each song. I'm more of a modernist at heart, and prefer to take the song on its own terms, rather than having it artistically framed for me. If you prefer the latter, you might like the liner notes more than me, and fair enough - go say so on your own blog.

Lastly, the production of this record is sometimes good (such as on "Dog Days Are Over") but doesn't consistently impress. Mostly it suffers from being excessively busy - a pretty common malady in music released in the last eight years or so.

OK, now that I've said all those nitpicky things, I'll end by saying that overall "Between Two Lungs" is a strong record, and worth more than just a casual listen. Welch's voice is a gift to the world, and it is a pleasure to hear her hit those high notes with such clarity and power. The musicianship is tight, and the songwriting is, for the most part, thoughtful. This is one of those records I might not pull off the shelf a lot, but I'll be happy every time Sheila does.

Best tracks: Dog Days Are Over, Howl, Drumming Song, My Boy Builds Coffins, Hurricane Drunk (the last two are preferable acoustically for me, but both versions included are good).