To be completely honest, I never really got into "Lungs", their first album, very much at all. I listened to all of it and liked about half of what i heard. It was incredibly raw, being a debut album, and showed great potential. SO much potential, that her label approached her at the beginning of this project and asked her to come to America and work with American pop producers to help move her sound along and get her ideas across. Now. If there is ANYTHING I have learned from this album, it is that this gorgeous woman has absolutely NO PROBLEM getting her ideas across!! Her lyrics come from the depths of her soul. Thankfully, she declined despite having plans to go through with the project. And the final piece, "Ceremonials", is what we have in front of us now. :) As Florence put it, "a bigger better version of 'Lungs'", which is true, but it's also musically more mature.
I don't quite know how this entry is gunna go because so many of these songs hit home for me. It's quite inspirational what this woman does and how she goes about putting her perspective on life lyrically. So many of these songs reflect what was in the first album, sad and emotional. The album's lead single, although not the first they let loose, is "Shake it out". Which is kinda like "Dog days are over" 1.5. Not 2.0, just 1.5. Similar in the aspect that its an uplifting song, one of the only ones on the album, much like "DDAO" and it has a catchy, loud chorus with a nice drum beat to it. But, it fades very fast. I listened to it about 5 times and then couldn't really jam to it anymore, whereas with "DDAO", you best bet that i was blasting that song in my car speeding down the freeway everyday! Now onto the lyrics. What caught my eye with this entire album was her ability to take abstract objects or ideas and turn them into people. "Im always dragging that horse around" "the arms of the ocean deliver me""i had a dream....i threw my arms around her legs". She keeps referring to objects or ideas as people which i found so awesome! It really takes the journey through the album to a whole new level. She is telling complete stories with these tracks and you really have to listen to the music and the lyrics together to understand it all.
The first song we actually heard from the album because we were given the entire song AND a video, was "What the water gave me". This song makes me think of a drug trip and the story behind it is extremely morbid. It was inspired by the suicide of Virginia Woolf, who (after researching i learned) was an English author who drowned herself by putting on her jacket and filling her pockets with heavy stones. Hence the lyrics, "pockets full of stones, lay me down". Florence actually stated that death by drowning was a common theme for the entire album which, if you really listen to the entire album, youll find nearly every song has the word "ocean" in it. Filled with cryptic sad lyrics, "But oh my love dont forget me, i let the water take me". Anyone who has had a moment of severe depression can't help but have skipped heartbeats at these lines.
"Never let me go" is that one song that will never sound the same live as it was recorded. The recording and production of this song was spot on. Kudos to whoever takes credit for the cleaning up of this track because it is virtually flawless. From the echo-ey vocals, to the deep choral background vocals during the chorus. From the loud drum beats to her flawless vocals where she flips into her higher register oh so flawlessly. Excellent running song and (once again) pretty awesome lyrics. "And its breaking over me, a thousand miles onto the sea bed". Another song about how she is finding comfort in the depths of the ocean. FILLED with deep lyrics about how peaceful she finds the deep ocean.
My personal favorite song is "No Light, No Light". A song of desperation and taunting love. Filled to the brim with the thoughts inside of my own head. An INCREDIBLE song that truly showcases the pains and aches of a true love. No other song has truly made me as emotional as this one has through the first listen. "Cause its so easy to sing it to the crowd, but its so hard my love, to say it to you all alone". "You are the hole in my head, you are the space in my bed. You are the silence in between what i thought and what i said". WOW. I'm sorry, but anyone who has had a true love that they could never be with understands those lyrics perfectly. It starts out slower with a soft organ and a harp glissando and then builds up nice and steady into a gorgeous chorus. Her own background harmonies during the first verse are almost her soul singing. You can hear the desperation in her voice. When i'm listening only to the music, i can't help but think of "Lord of the Rings". It's very peaceful yet upbeat at the same time. haha. very hard to explain. But such an amazing piece of work.
So many other good songs. Vocally challenging songs like "Lover to Lover" and "Spectrum" (GREAT song) take the time to truly showcase her ability as an actual singer. "Leave my body" and "Seven Devil's" (scary song) are other honorable mentions. There were a couple songs that i wasn't too thrilled with. "Remain Nameless" being the main one. But no talk of negatives. Overall, i thought it was an awesome "full" album with a constant theme and a more complete sound than the first. If i have any hopes for any of the songs, i pray and pray that they release "No Light, No Light" as a single. Pure brilliance. Great album!!!!
