Ah, those lost youtube hours of jumping from Kate Bush videos to Steve Nicks performances, singing favourite lines, sighing at the memories and wondering why there are so few forces of nature coming through in music these days. Florence Welch is someone who, if given the space to grow and her head by the number crunchers, could also come up with some classics and join the exalted company on those where-did-the-time-go? playlists.
Here she shows a true sense of adventure when it comes to the epic and a need to work on her powers of quality control. The stormy weather sound of big drums, keyboards and that voice on 'Rabbit Heart' and 'Howl' is stunning, but 'A Kiss with a Fist' shouldn't have made it out of the rehearsal room (think garage band doing perfume ad) and the draped-around-a-mic-stand blues of 'Girl with One Eye' has been done far better by others.
Welch is at her best when her music is at its most imaginative, and that ability to mix anger and uplift is a rare thing of beauty. Like the best of them, hopefully age will only add to it.
Harry Guerin
