Florence & the Machine

This UK lady has been making waves since at least 2008, if not earlier. It mostly started with her single "Kiss With A Fist," which put her in the  over-hyped-UK-female-piano-pop-artists-with-songwriting-abilities-and-attitude category. Sort of billed as "the new Kate Nash" when the original Kate Nash had just barely got there. I sort of brushed her off. But some of the songs I'm hearing on this new album, Lungs, have been making me think I might have judged a little bit prematurely. One helluva voice on that gal. And it's so hard to peg down, too. Sometimes sounding emotional and affected, like La Roux. Sometimes filled with the spunk of Kate Nash. Sometimes dripping with a Fiona Apple-esque melancholy (see "Hurricane Drunk"). Sometimes coming from the gut, reminding me a bit of Bell (see the epic "Cosmic Love"). Just love it. Check out the excellent song below, which instrumentally reminds me a bit of the National, believe it or not (and that's about as big a compliment as I can give).

Florence And The Machine :: My Boy Builds Coffins