STACK Jun #128

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MUSIC
that as much as it was about that, it was about
a relationship that I was having with myself;
conflicts, what I was going through.”
Themes can be a moot point: the author
may have one perspective, the listener quite
another – that’s just one way that music
works. The sound, on the other hand, is quite
a different issue. Few music fans question the
sonic quality of Florence’s voice: it’s unusual,
and immediately recognisable – her phrasing,
timbre, and vocal power is uniquely distinct.
What’s different about How Big, How Blue,
How Beautiful is the sound, the physical terrain
of the music, the atmosphere of the thing; it’s
recognisably Florence + the Machine but it’s
undoubtedly an evolution.
“We wanted it to sound like Tom Petty taking
off on a jet plane in the ’70s,” she says. “A
lot of it was quite dictated by being in LA,
driving in cars a lot. This idea of expanse and
space, ‘bigness’. There was a bigness to
Ceremonials, but it was darker – more about
submersion – whereas I think this one’s about
elevation.”
And it wasn’t just “driving around LA” that
gave the album a little sprinkle of City of Angels
dust; certain songs specifically deal with
LA locales, or draw their inspiration from them.
The album’s title track, for example. "How Big,
How Blue, How Beautiful was written about
the last tour – one of my favourite tours around
America, actually," says Welch. "We were
playing this show at The Hollywood Bowl, and
played two nights… the beginning lines of that
song, 'between a crucifix and the Hollywood
sign' [refer to that time]."
But several other markers of inspiration
aren’t so literal. One of the album’s more
abstract touch points came via the discovery
of late ex-pat Australian artist Vali Meyers,
one time confidante of both Patti Smith (as
immortalised in Smith’s superb book, Just Kids )
and Marianne Faithful. “Vali Meyers – she’s this
amazing shaman/artist and she was the subject
of Ed van der Elsken's Love on the Left Bank.
She lived in a cave in Porto Fino, and made
these amazing dream paintings. She would get
inspiration from the dream world, and bring it
back to reality. I couldn’t believe I’d never found
her before," says Welch.
If the world remembers Florence + the
Machine, if there’s any justice, it will be for
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful; it’s an
album that sees the singer not only break out of
the shell of her youth and former self, but break
out musically as well.
How Big, How Blue,
How Beautiful by
Florence + the Machine
is available now via
Universal.
The video clips drawn from How
Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
are a cut above the standard fare.
The over-arching themes of the
album are reflected in a series
of clips created in collaboration
between Florence and director
Vincent Haycock. “It spans a
broad spectrum of songs –
some are slow and emotional,
some are anthemic and raw,“
says the filmmaker. “My goal is
to create videos that will follow
the music throughout, guiding us
through each layer of the How
Big, How Blue, How Beautiful
odyssey.” Speaking about the
clip for first single What Kind Of
Man?, he says: “It’s obviously
about relationships, but it’s also
about Florence travelling through
our version of The Divine Comedy.
So in essence this video is the
first layer of Hell…”
Ship to Wreck
A highly energised, acoustic
belter to open proceedings.
“Don’t touch the sleeping pills/
they mess with my head.../
did I dream too much, am I
losing touch/ did I build a ship
to wreck?” gives us a clue to
the singer’s state of mind and
the journey we’re about to
undertake.
How Big, How Blue,
How Beautiful
“Between a crucifix and the
Hollywood sign we decided
to get hurt/ now there’s
a few things we have to
burn.” Florence, you have our
attention. With tumble-down
strings and a horn-fuelled
refrain, this will effortlessly
whip you up in its tide of love,
regret and remonstration.
Long and Lost
A meticulously crafted,
beautiful track, Florence’s
voice is centre-stage.
Dark, atmospheric, and lonely.
“Can the city forgive, I hear
it’s sad song” sings Florence.
Teenagers in bedrooms will
play on repeat. One for night
listening.
Mother
The chains are, by this point,
well and truly thrown off.
Sweeping through the album’s
broad theme of freeing oneself
from inner demons, this is a
crowning achievement in a
musical sense as well.
“I put my feet into the fountain/
the statues all asleep/ no use
wishing on the water…Mother
made me a bird of prey.”
Keys shimmer, guitars travel,
voices harmonise – but the
end is an absolute avalanche,
an unhinged ‘fists at the sky,
I’ll take you and win’ moment
that may yet convince hardened
cynics.