FLORENCE & THE MACHINE レコード& CD

Review: Florence Welch's globe-straddlingly successful epic-pop project has made its name largely through no-holds-barred emotion and rapturous melodrama, and although this third album has largely been trumpeted as a return to a more stripped-down and less over-the-top approach, long-term fans of the couture-clad siren needn't worry too much. 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful' remains true to her heart-on-sleeve approach and the cinematic splendour she's made her trademark. Crucially, even beneath the orchestral arrangements and the life-or-death vocal declamations, the songs on this record shone through as memorable and emotive enough to withstand the level of ornamentation around them, and fit to have Florence's fearsome pipes send them skyward.