Lungs

Lungs is the debut studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 3 July 2009 by Island Records. The album features production from James Ford, Paul Epworth, Stephen Mackey, Eg White and Charlie Hugall, with additional production by band member Isabella Summers.

Background
Prior to the release of any EPs under the band name Florence + The Machine, Florence had attempted many things in the music industry. She had tried to become a country singer, folk singer, and even wrote songs with Johnny Borrell. After being unsatisfied with these, Florence fronted the hip hop-influenced group Ashok, and in 2007 they released their debut album 'Plans' which had early version of the bands song 'Kiss With A Fist' called 'Happy Slap'.

After leaving Ashok, Welch began writing with childhood friend Isabella Summers and developed a sound that she wanted to take further. Distraught but also inspired from a recently failed relationship, Welch recorded with "enthusiasm over skills", stating, "I'm quite glad I never learned to play the guitar, because I think I'd write songs that were more classically structured. As it is, I've had to create my own way of writing, which isn't typical. Everything's a big crescendo." The pair began to perform as 'Florence Robot / Isa Machine' in small London venues. Over the next few months, band members began to be recruited and they eventually renamed to Florence + The Machine. In November 2008, the band signed to Island Records and the work on promoting and polishing Lungs started.

A Lot Of Love, A Lot Of Blood
Before the release of their debut in 2009, the band released an EP called A Lot Of Love, A Lot Of Blood. This was released early in 2009, and consisted of 5 songs. These five songs were: Dog Days Are Over, Kiss With A Fist, You've Got The Love, Hospital Beds and Dog Days Are Over (An Optimo (Espacio) Remix). After positive reviews, the band pushed forward to releasing their debut Lungs under Island Records.

Release, Promotion & Singles
The lead single from the album was 'Kiss With A Fist' which was released on June 9th 2008 and peaked at number 51 on the UK Singles Chart.

The second single to be released was 'Dog Days Are Over', which was released on the first of December 2008. The 2008 release peaked at 89 on the UK Singles Chart, however the 2010 repackage with 'Between Two Lungs' charted higher. The song was also used in the trailer for the 2010 film ''Eat, Pray, Love. ''

'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' was the third single from the album, and had chart success. It was released on the 22nd of June, 2009, and peaked at number 12 on the UK Singles Chart. 'Drumming Song' was released as the fourth single on the 7th of September 2009, and peaked at number 54.

'You've Got The Love' was the fifth single from the album, and reached a new peak for the band which was number five on the UK Singles Chart. The song was issued as a 'B-Side for Dog Days Are Over', but the success of previous singles led Island Records to request 'You've Got The Love' as a stand alone single. Florence performed alongside Dizzee Rascal at the Brit Awards in 2010, and they created a mash up of 'You've Got The Love' and Dizzee's song 'Dirtee Cash'. 'You've Got The Dirtee Love' peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart after being released on iTunes the day after the Brit Awards.

On January 5th 2010, 'Hurricane Drunk' was set to be released as the sixth single and had it's own music video filmed in Paris which premiered after the Celebrity Big Brother Finale on Channel 4. However, a reissue of 'Dog Days Are Over' was confirmed on the bands website and was released on April 11th 2010. The reissue featured a new video and new 7-inch vinyl record, and peaked at number 23 on the UK Singles Chart.

The sixth and final single from Lungs was 'Cosmic Love' and was released on the fifth of July 2010. The song peaked number 51 on the UK Singles Chart, and the band appeared on the TV show 'Gossip Girl' and performed an acoustic version of 'Cosmic Love' on the episode titled 'Panic Roommate'.

Artwork
The imagery of Lungs, featuring a style derived from the Ante-Donatello Brotherhood, was handled by two of Welch's friends: photographer Tom Beard and art director Tabitha Denholm, who are partners at the studio Partizan. Denholm also plays with the band's manager Mairead Nash in the DJ duo Queens of Noize. For the album cover, Denholm created a concept built around a pair of lungs worn visibly on Welch's chest. Welch's personal stylist Aldene Johnson handled the wardrobe, "an Emma Cook chain dress that was in a kind of 1920s style", while Orlando Weeks, an art student and frontman of the band The Maccabees, built the prostethic lungs, which he intended to give "a Victoriana, industrial punchbag kind of look".

Release
Florence and the Machine announced via their website on 24 September 2010 that Lungs would be re-released on 15 November as a two-disc package titled Between Two Lungs. The reissue features new sleeve art, liner notes by Welch, and a 12-track bonus disc including live versions, remixes, Welch's mashup collaboration with Dizzee Rascal, "You Got the Dirtee Love", and "Heavy in Your Arms", which was released as a single from the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. The live recordings are taken from the band's performance at the 2010 iTunes Festival, most of which were not previously available on the band's iTunes Festival: London 2010 EP.

On 27 February 2011, Lungs: The B-Sides was released exclusively in the United States to digital music retailers such as the iTunes Store and Amazon MP3. This was followed by the release of a deluxe edition of Lungs in the US on 26 April 2011, featuring all 11 tracks from Lungs: The B-Sides on a bonus disc to accompany the original 13-track album.

Critical Reception
Lungs received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 79, based on 22 reviews. James Christopher Monger of AllMusic praised it as "one of the most musically mature and emotionally mesmerizing albums of 2009" and stated, "With an arsenal of weaponry that included the daring musicality of Kate Bush, the fearless delivery of Sinéad O'Connor, and the dark, unhinged vulnerability of Fiona Apple, the London native crafted a debut that not only lived up to the machine-gun spray of buzz that heralded her arrival, but easily surpassed it." Ryan Dombal wrote for Pitchfork that Florence Welch "bursts mouth wide wide over garage rock, epic soul, pint-tipping Britbeat, and—best of all—a mystic brand of pop that's part Annie Lennox, Grace Slick, and Joanna Newsom." Q noted that "there's a lot going on, but Welch never confuses breadth with depth". Entertainment Weekly 's Joseph Brannigan Lynch opined that Welch's "immaculately constructed indie pop recalls Regina Spektor, but without the studied artiness: Welch is more concerned with raw emotional release." Spin 's Melissa Maerz stated, "From the way she sings, in big gulps and Teen Wolf growls, to the mystical art-rock ballads she bedazzles with sleigh bells, harps, and choirs, there's enough drama here for a Broadway musical. But her delivery is so raw that every mess feels genuine."

Rolling Stone 's Jon Dolan expressed that "the best bits feel like being chased through a moonless night by a sexy moor witch." Slant Magazine 's Nick Day referred to the band's music as "particularly sensitive to studio gloss" and praised Welch's singing as "a fine balance between elegance and frenzy." In a review for The Guardian, Dave Simpson viewed that Welch "has created a sonic labyrinth of xylophones, percussion, Gregorian chants and werewolves. It can sound affected, occasionally crass, but there's enough adventure to make this worth backing for the Mercury." Jamie Fullerton of NME commended the work of producers James Ford and Paul Epworth, writing that they "create epic cauldron-swirls of Terminator-theme drums, Massive Attack atmospherics and twinkle-eye harp matched by Florence's grappling of skyward choruses", but found that "with the likes of 'I'm Not Calling You A Liar' and 'Howl' boasting similarly windy production yet no identifiable tunes the results sound aimless—if harmless." Genevieve Koski of The A.V. Club felt that "at times, Lungs borders on exhausting, careening as it does from one over-the-top track to the next. [...] But with a voice as strong and emotive as hers, it's not surprising that Welch has little use for moments of quiet contemplation." Despite criticising instances of "over-smoothed" production on certain tracks, The Observer 's Sheryl Garratt concluded that "there's a real joy about this debut. It's the sound of someone who has found their voice and is keen to use ie band lat – as loudly and freely as possible"