Florence + the Machine feels like a fitting band for my Halloween Random Song of the Day. The band, and Florence Welch herself, have a gothic quality that’s appropriate for the holiday.
I’m a big fan of Florence + the Machine’s second album, Ceremonials, but it’s taken longer for their debut, Lungs, to grow on me. I don’t know if that’s an issue with me or the album, as the music seems pretty much in line with their sophomore effort.
Bear with me on this one, but I think Florence + The Machine and Adele are having the same career.
Consider: Both acts released debut albums that were decent but unremarkable, notable for one hit single that towered above everything else on the record. Then both dropped sophomore records that surpassed even the highest expectations, reaching unexpected heights both critically and commercially.
I’ve spent the week looking back on the summer through the prism of sports, television, movies and song, so it’s only fitting that I should close things out with a discussion of the written word.
I suppose the official book of the summer would be Fifty Shades of Grey (along with its sequels) but I have no time for glorified Twilight fan fiction. Another much-hyped book, Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl, has received much higher praise (including from my wife, who read it in about two days), and I definitely plan to read that one.
This week I’ll post mini-reviews of five albums I’ve bought in recent weeks. Overall this has been a very solid year for new music. My top ten is populated with albums I’ve already returned to again and again, albums that cover a wide variety of styles and genres.
It’s also split evenly between male and female artists, a nice bit of symmetry that I don’t see very often on my year-end list.
Meet Me In Montauk 