Kiss with a fist

The hype is out there.

(Un)Lucky for me, I’ve been so wrapped up in Canadian music these past few months that I’ve failed to notice the attention being given to one Florence Welch, who trades under the name Florence & the Machine.  There is a Machine (i.e. band) behind Florence, but she’s the one who rules the roost.  Strutting about with pluck and vigour that we haven’t really seen from a female vocalist in a while, Welch’s debut album, Lungs, wastes no time in raising it’s hand and alternately slapping and caressing your ears.  This is pop music, don’t doubt that for a second, but it’s pop in the best sense of the word:  catchy, addictive, and not derivative.  She’s less batty than Bat For Lashes, which means the songs are leaner and tighter, but they still manage to throw in a smorgasbord of musical layers that don’t clutter as much as they colour.

Seven songs into the 13 tarcks on Lungs and you’re still waiting for something to repeat.  Without losing consistency or a sense of connectedness, Lungs manages to bring something new to each track and not keep your attention.  There’s a Tim Burton-esque lyrical sensibility on tracks such as “Girl With One Eye” and “My Boy Builds Coffins” (there’s movie treatments in those titles somewhere), and mystical evocations with “Drumming” and “Howl”.  The two opening numbers–both singles–are, in my humble opinion, two of the best songs I’ve heard all year.  Opener “Dog Days Are Over” rolls in like a hurricane, propelled by thundering hand-claps and Welch’s trademark howling voice.  “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” picks up where the previous track leaves off; if you;re not paying attention to the album’s progress, you may actually miss the point where one song ends and the other begins.  Welch’s voice on “Between Two Lungs”  reminds me of all the reasons why I love(d) Sinéad O’Connor: passion, pathos, and power.

The hype is out there, that’s for damn certain.  Florence & the Machine won a Critic’s Choice Brit Award in February well before there was any real recorded output to justify it.  Lungs has made its UK debut, but we North Americans have to wait until after summer for a domestic release.  We’ll find out later today whether she’ll make the cut for this year’s Mercury Music Award.  Can she maintain interest and momentum?  My guess is yes; I can see the SNL and Letterman/O’Brien appearances now, and I can already hear the chatter around the water coolers the next day.  Florence Welch is a machine that’s not going to be easy to stop.

MP3: Florence & the Machine “Dog Days Are Over”
Myspace: Florence & the Machine

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