Florence & The Machine (Island)
Another week, another debut from a young British female singer who benefited from enormous they’ll-be-big-in-2009 hype in January.
Little Boots (first in the BBC’s Sound of 2009 poll) saw her album tumble out of the top ten in next to no time; La Roux (fifth) has fared a little better.
Now it’s the turn of Londoner Florence Welch, who came third in the poll and later won the Critics’ Choice award for new talent at the Brits.
Listening to Lungs, it’s surprising that Welch received such huge advance acclaim.
Not because she isn’t talented (she is), but because the little musical and lyrical world she tries to build for herself is often so unfashionably hippyish.
A major-label production team has done its best to iron out the kinks, but there are still idiosyncrasies on show.
However, Welch is a pop singer, not an innovator, and Lungs is at its best when it aims big: on Rabbit Heart, and on the immense Blinding.
Not the sound of 2009, but not bad.
WILL FULFORD-JONES
