Florence + The Machine – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
- Written by Zoe Wallbank
Florence + The Machine are finally back after a four year break from back-to-back recording and touring, with a new album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, which is packed with powerful vocals, catchy beats and lyrics everyone will be belting come festival season.
This album is based around their whirlwind experience of success and fame, taking a break from it all and being yourself, something they have had time to reflect on during the past four years after being catapulted into fame in 2008 by first single ‘Kiss With A Fist’. This message is most noticeable in the title track ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’, a heartfelt track containing lyrics such as: “between a crucifix and the Hollywood sign, we decided to get hurt” and “we opened our eyes and it’s changing the view”.
The opening track ‘Ship To Wreck’ sums up the album (and the message) well, with hard-hitting honest lyrics like “Did I drink too much? / Am I losing touch? / Did I build a ship to wreck?” It’s got the powerful vocals and happy beat you expect but with a sense of something new. It is classic Florence + The Machine, without being “same old Florence + The Machine”, which is something many artists with such a strong, unique sound struggle with.
As well as the massive summer hits expected from them, this album is balanced out with slower, heartfelt, meaningful tracks such as: ‘Various Storms & Saints’ and ‘Long & Lost’. With such a unique and distinctive voice, the album flows seamlessly and can go from summer hit to slow meaningful track without a bump or losing interest, and occasionally even in the same track.
The album has been described as “live-sounding, tune-rich, unhinged in all the right places and powerful in all the best ways” and there is truly no better way to sum up such an incredible artist that has had people waiting for years, but is sure not to disappoint.
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is available from Amazon and iTunes.