Florence and the Machine

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the stunning new offering from Florence and the Machine.
Now that I have listened to it several times I can see how strong an album this is but at first I was some what disappointed.

Lacking the darkness of Ceremonials, I at first felt like this album, their third, was a step backwards but today I realised this was not the case How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is certainly a leap into green new pastures.

Florence Welch has crafted a career for herself with the belief that she feels things more powerfully and painfully than anyone else and How Big....is a break up record, but not just any break up record, its a break up record written by someone whose break up was the worst. Ever. These aren't just songs about heartbreak; they are total and utter eclipses of the heart. From the total and utter carnage of waiting for a call from a boyfriend in Delilah to describing the loss of herself in a relationship in the stomping Queen of Peace. This is an album built for arenas, which allows Welch to flaunt her never-endingly amazing sense of melody.

Trust me, each time I sing What Kind of Man at the top of my lungs (in the car with the windows shut) my heart breaks that I simply don't have her range. I bet I'm not the only one!