Sign up to Roisin O\u2019Connor\u2019s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things musicGet our Now Hear This email for freeGet our Now Hear This email for free<\/p>\n
In the warm, red heart of the Royal Albert Hall, we\u2019re celebrating Lungs. The debut album by Florence and the Machine recently marked its 15th anniversary; lead artist Florence Welch is observing the occasion with a full orchestra in one of London\u2019s grandest venues. <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a perfect fit. Released in 2009, Lungs is a tempestuous collection of ornate, baroque-pop compositions, each one unique, as if suspended in the eye of a hurricane. There are filigreed arpeggios of harp; sharp plucks of the violin; the menacing military punch of a drumbeat. Reigning over it all is Welch\u2019s voice, drenched in reverb as she bellows, hollers and chants like a sorceress reciting spells.<\/p>\n
At the BBC Proms, conductor and arranger Jules Buckley galvanises his orchestra as Welch accompanies the choir onto the stage, red hair cascading around her. She\u2019s known for embracing the pre-Raphaelite look \u2013 now she\u2019s gone full mediaeval princess, in a scarlet silk gown with bell sleeves. Fans have endeavoured to emulate their heroine, turning up in flowing dresses and bejewelled headpieces. One woman has wrapped herself in fairylights. <\/p>\n
An opening salvo of \u201cDrumming Song\u201d and \u201cMy Boy Builds Coffins\u201d feels oddly rushed. Singers setting their songs to orchestras is nothing new, but Welch\u2019s songwriting \u2013 steeped in poetry, myth and folklore \u2013 is naturally suited to such a dramatic backdrop. But the arrangement of \u201cDrumming Song\u201d, in particular, is just a touch obvious \u2013 dominated by pounding, menacing beats.<\/p>\n
Her signature cover of Candi Staton\u2019s \u201cYou\u2019ve Got the Love\u201d unfurls with the RAH\u2019s \u201cVoice of Jupiter\u201d \u2013 the mighty pipe organ played tonight by the wonderful Anna Lapwood. It\u2019s always a shock to hear Welch speak after singing \u2013 evidently shy, she speaks in a bashful half-whisper. \u201cI really have had a time re-learning some of these songs,\u201d she admits. \u201cBecause these ranges are crazy \u2013 you are young, you are drunk, and you only think you\u2019ll sing them one time. And here we are, 15 years later\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s such a hush on the first verse of \u201cBird Song\u201d that you can hear the click of the microphone as Welch pulls it from the stand. This is when the arrangements take flight: Latin guitar inflections precede a warbling woodwind section, the elegant harp and the dark pomp of brass. Welch\u2019s voice is as agile as it was 15 years ago but now more refined, she hits her top notes with apparent ease, throwing herself into belts and runs on the gripping \u201cHowl\u201d. <\/p>\n
Lungs was written while Welch was in the throes of her first real heartbreak. It was messy and manic, to the chagrin of many a male critic, who deemed her Ophelia-esque despair \u201cannoying\u201d. But Welch is just as capable at poking fun at her own drama, demonstrated perfectly on an Irish jig interpretation of \u201cKiss With a Fist\u201d, which opens with the eerie gusts and flurries of a violin solo before kicking into high gear with an army of fiddles, whistles and\u2026 is that a banjo we hear? <\/p>\n
It\u2019s a tremendous effort. Whether in the jazz and hip-hop-influenced bass grooves on a rendition of \u201cRabbit Heart (Raise It Up)\u201d, or the sweeping, cinematic romance of \u201cCosmic Love\u201d, Welch and Buckley haven\u2019t missed a trick. \u201cDog Days\u201d is ramped up into a John Williams-inspired score; \u201cBlinding\u201d harnesses the full might of the orchestra, a masterclass in musical storytelling. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I first heard Jules’s orchestrations, I cried, because this was an album created with so much feeling \u2013 it was about feeling,\u201d Welch tells her audience. \u201cI never thought anyone could add more feeling to it.\u201d Both she and Buckley understand that setting her songs to an orchestra shouldn\u2019t just make them \u201cbigger\u201d \u2013 instead they\u2019ve singled out the subtleties that, arguably, critics missed the first time round. Easily done, when Welch\u2019s voice has so much pull. But tonight, the record\u2019s ambition and depth is here for all to see. Bravo. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sign up to Roisin O\u2019Connor\u2019s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things musicGet our Now Hear This email for freeGet our Now Hear This email for free In the warm, red heart of the Royal Albert Hall, we\u2019re celebrating Lungs. The debut album by Florence and the Machine recently […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3612,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n