Skip to main content

Florence + The Machine, High As Hope

Florence + The Machine, High As Hope


Florence Welsh’s voice rings out loud and clear on her band’s most direct and, ultimately, most inspired album since her debut. While Ceremonials ensorcelled her in gothic 80s melodrama and How Big, How Blue’s production dilluted her intensity, High As Hope brings Florence’s roar back to the fore. It soars, about as passionately and prominently as it did on Lungs. Some of these songs are softer and more reflective, but even here the singer still resonates to the rafters. It’s good timing for her voice to take center stage again; the newly sober Welsh has plenty to say as she struggles with faith and doubt, wrestles with the demons of the day, and claims a hard-won optimism as compelling as her ocean-sized voice. Highlights: “Patricia,” “Hunger,” “100 Years”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Richard Thompson, 13 Rivers

Richard Thompson ,  13 Rivers Richard Thompson — 13 Rivers Arguably the most consistently engaging artist of the last 50 years, Richard Thompson continues to write deep, dark folk-rock songs with an acerbic wit married to a soft, calm wisdom. This new album isn’t widely divergent from his established catalogue but miraculously Thompson, who was already a guitar hero in the 1970s, still manages to grow as a guitarist and sound fresh. Working highly intricate riffs into the undergirding of each song’s frame, he also solos on every song and as usual, his virtuosity remains connected to the music, always moving the songs forward rather than grandstanding. Plus, Thompson’s one of a kind voice only deepens in resonance over time. Highlights: “Trying,” “O Cinderella,” “Bones of Gilead”
Post a Comment
Read more

Jacob Banks, Village

Jacob Banks ,  Village With the British, Nigerian-born future soul singer’s full-length debut, Jason Banks discovers the point at which today’s forward-thinking alternative R&B comes full circle and connect with classic R&B. Banks’s arrangements are contemporary, much of his instrumentation electronic and advanced, and he makes relevant enough cultural references to blend in with the hip hop set. his voice, though, recalls the soul men of yore, with a mighty, stirring baritone of which he is in full command. His voice rings out with power and sensitivity in equal measure. Banks brings some fusion from outside R&B world too, with traces of reggae and African sounds. This one’s worth checking out even if you don’t think you like soul or R&B. Highlights: “Kumbaya,” “Caroline,” “Unknown (To You)”
Post a Comment
Read more

Vince Staples, FM!

Vince Staples ,  FM! The Long Beach rapper follows last year’s star-studded, experimental and genre-warping  Big Fish Theory  with more streamlined hip hop record. With only eight short songs, Staples’s approach is simple, straight and to the point, and packs an awful lot into his breathless 22 minutes. The framing sequence of radio show DJ interludes fills the record out, and it does feature a variety of guest cameos — but this time around, they’re all from the worlds of rap and R&B. The beats are highly varied in style, though mostly uptempo and staccato. Lyrically Staples focuses on a blend of black pride, commentary on the disenfranchised life in America, summertime hangouts, and also plenty of tried-and-true rap self-praise. Highlights: “Outside!,” “Run The Bands,” “FUN!”
Post a Comment
Read more