I heard about this artist from the Daily Trojan's "Ten Best Albums of 2009" - Florence and the Machine's Lungs came in at #2. First off, I'm always looking for female-driven rock. I know it sounds trite to automatically be more interested by the promise of a female voice, but in a world where I feel like a lot of females in the music industry are relegated to become pretty pop tarts and musicianship is apparently best left handled by males, I give credit to talented women out there in the rock scene.
That said, I can't really describe Florence and the Machine as "rock." I'm not sure what I can really describe her as at all. Amazon has her listed under "British," "Rock," and "Indie Rock," and I suppose that will have to do, but the playfulness of different sounds and rhythms in her songs suggests the kind of genre-bending that I think begets more than a "rock" classification. Though I suppose there is an attitude of, "when all else fails, if there are actual instruments it's probably rock" among music labels and retailers these days.
Anyway, suffice it to say that this album grabbed me upon first listen and has held me ever since. I've replayed it several times since acquiring it and am thrilled that she's going to be performing at Coachella. So, even though I love every song on the album and it was hard to pick just one for the Song of the Day, I've selected "Rabbit Heart (Raise it Up)." I love the melody and the lyrics. It's catchy but not simplistically so, and while employing a rock beat it's actually also very evocative of gospel. Give it a listen!
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