How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful

Release Date(s): May 29, 2015

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is a very mild comeback for Florence. After starting out as a fusion between the most enrapturing parts of Kate Bush and Siouxsie and The Banshees, and in accordance with Dragon Ball Z rules on fusion, surpassing her influences in songcraft, Florence + the Machine released one of the most personally disappointing sophomore albums in recent memory with Ceremonials. Given that “recently” the success rate of sophomore albums has been about 25%, that’s truly saying something.

Ceremonials was of the “Adele-conscious” era and sacrificed eclecticism and lush arrangements for sheer size. An obviously commercial move partly to blame Paul Epworth on, and a puzzling compromise considering Lungs sold boatloads as it was. In a shocking decision, Florence (apparently without the opinion of + The Machine, who are mysteriously absent from this album’s cover) ditches Epworth despite the fame he had brought her and elects Markus Dravs as producer. The result is a middle-ground between the complacent voice-selling Ceremonials and the inspired baroque textures of Lungs.

In other words, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is something of a more cathartic Bat for Lashes. Somewhat subtle steps on the dance floor aren’t given up here, but what’s pleasing is after bringing Gothic sensibilities back into mainstream music with the debut album is that Florence has naturally gone eras further and now paints portraits of the serene 1800s English countryside, with images of ships, queens, churches, and romantically lost young women.

I’m particularly partial to the opener “Ship to Wreck” which bears a strong resemblance to saintly 80s jangle pop groups like the The Go-Betweens and 10,000 Maniacs. When all’s said and done, this new album is an improvement over the last when no one had any reason to expect such. However, the songs are overly extended and dominated by their choruses (not in strength, but in width) and I’m not any more optimistic for the group’s future. The recovery isn’t strong enough, but I can’t help but feel Dravs is deserving of the praise for it being a recovery at all.

If you loved Lungs enough to give Ceremonials a shot, is anyone going to stop you from doing the same for How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful? I still mourn the death of a promising 15-minute artist, but at least I now see their lingering spirit instead of a cold, failed copy.

Deluxe Edition

Here’s a little addendum for you all. For whatever reason, either Florence or Marks Dravs elected to put the best songs from their How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful sessions as bonus tracks only for the deluxe edition. Listen to “Hiding” to hear possibly the only really great song from this album and you might as well keep the other two for also being higher performers than the album tracks. The Target exclusive deluxe edition adds two more bonus tracks with “Pure Feeling” being almost as good as “Hiding.” “Conductor” is one of Florence’s best vocal performances, and the exclusive vinyl 7-inch track “As Far as I Could Get” is well-worth keeping. Seriously, who was in charge of selecting the tracks for the main album?