As genres of music continue to merge and mutate, different variations on popular styles tend to come out and wow audiences.
Soul has been a genre that has received a LOT of attention over the past years, leading to a shift in the typical balance. The soul queens aren't coming from the R&B or gospel world any longer. Pop and rock are spawning the soul queens. Consider Beth Ditto from The Gossip, Shingai Shoniwa from The Noisettes, Connie Mitchell from Sneaky Sound System, and now Florence & The Machine's Florence Welch. This not only means that consumers are being introduced to broader aspects of music as the commercial mainstream embraces artist with a new musical swing, but it also means that the dance community specifically needs to broaden its horizons as well to make sure that it is producing the best possible music. It is no surprise, then, that excellent productions featuring Ditto, Shoniwa, and Mitchell (among others) have come out of the woodwork in the past few years, both as collaborations but also original productions and collaborations. It is a new world for dance, and Florence & The Machine is part of that new world. The biggest hint is that the group, which is little more than Welch and a smattering of musicians she works with, covered the perennial Candi Staton classic "You've Got The Love." It seems that every few years this song finds its way back into people's ears. Florence & The Machine does little to the track but Welch's voice handles the nuances of the soul classic fabulously. The group's "neofolk" approach to soul sounds magnificent against this time-tested composition.
The Exposition
There is more than Florence & The Machine than meets the eye though. The album cover, which is a beautiful, red-haired woman with a pair of lungs under a diaphanous shawl in a wooded area, might convey a frail, timid vocalist. The imagery matches the album title, Lungs, but minus the organ, it is reminiscent of other contemporaries like A Fine Frenzy and the timeless Tori Amos. What holds Welch above the other is her firm grasp of her instrument. A Fine Frenzy and Amos are beautiful singers but neither has the meat of this girl's pipes. Take "Girl With One Eye," a bluesy arrangement that has Welch victoriously belting out and vulnerably whispering both as effectively as the other. Her instrument conveys pure happiness as well, within "Dogs Days Are Over," the child-like instrumentation and handclaps that support Welch's echoed voice convey the simple joyous nature of the track. And this is how Lungs plays, vascillating between tender moments, bouts of mirth, sadness, loss, desperation, and self-confidence. Welch explores some odd subjects, namely "My Boy Builds Coffins" (which is a wonderfully self-explanatory title, don't you agree?), which is truly awkward to listen to.
Beautifully Out of Context
Perhaps one of the most intriguing things about the group is that they have become a target for remixes. While "You've Got The Love" makes perfect sense, and Welch's delivery is top notch for sure, "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" also has received the remix treatment. "Rabbit Heart" is far from a track that screams "REMIX ME," but it, as well as "Dog Days Are Over," "Drumming Song," and "You've Got The Love" all got remixed in a variety of styles. "Rabbit Heart" perhaps has the largest variety, Switch and Lionheart providing two of the most prominent. Jack Beats gave the world a heavy electro mix of "Drumming Song," while Pitron & Sanna and Tom Middleton both took cracks at the Candi Staton classic. This firmly supports the concept mentioned earlier, that the soul singers of today's generation, in terms of dance music, are rooted in genres you wouldn't have found them in 20 years ago. That's some wonderful progression.
Summary
On its own, Lungs is a fantastic trip through an indie neo-folk
soul world that can leave you breathless. Considering the
transformations from these humble beginnings to the stellar club
tracks, not only is the source material exceptional but the work of
the remixers is awe-inspiring. Lungs, though, is one of the best
non-dance albums out there this year. Give it a listen.
Released July 2009 on Island Records
Disclosure: CD was purchased by writer so there is nothing to disclose. For more information, please see our Ethics Policy.
