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Lungs is the debut studio album by the English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, released on 3 July 2009 by Island Records. After working on various projects, Florence Welch formed a band which included Robert Ackroyd, Chris Hayden, Mark Saunders, Tom Monger, and former collaborator Isabella Summers. The album features production from James Ford, Paul Epworth, Stephen Mackey, Eg White and Charlie Hugall, with additional production by band member Isabella Summers. The album has been reissued several times: an expanded version titled Between Two Lungs (2010), a digital EP subtitled The B-Sides (2011), and a Tenth Anniversary Edition (2019). Lungs received generally positive reviews from music critics, with Welch drawing comparisons to the likes of Kate Bush and Fiona Apple. It appeared on several year-end critics' lists in late 2009. The album won the award for British Album of the Year at the Brit Awards. Commercially, Lungs reached number one in Poland and the United Kingdom, and number 14 in the US Billboard 200, selling over 3 million copies worldwide. The album was supported by six singles, all of which were supplemented by accompanying music videos. "Kiss with a Fist" peaked at 51 in the United Kingdom while "Dog Days Are Over" and "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" also charted in Australia and Belgium. Three further singles followed the release of the album, "Drumming Song", a cover of the song "You've Got the Love", and "Cosmic Love". Their cover of the Source and Candi Staton song became the group's first top-10 entry. To promote the album, Florence and the Machine embarked on the Lungs Tour between 2008 and 2011. A live album from this concert was released in 2010, titled Live at the Wiltern.
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Reviews
Sometime around the release of this album I had a British colleague who was visiting my office. I think he had attended the Glastonbury music festival and was raving about this amazing group he heard called Florence + the Machine. He played some songs and I was hooked and immediately set about buying this album. I loved listening to this again… it has been a while since I played the album all the way through. It’s absolutely thrilling. I wish I had been at that festival!
4.5
Easy to remember the summer when ‘Dog Days’ played after every other song on the radio and had pop culture in its grip, that fatigue influencing my outlook coming into this listen. Have to say this LP surprised me, though – it’s not the most memorable thing in the world, but the dense, layered instrumentals and Welch’s powerhouse vocals make rne tracks feel immediate and genuine. There could have very well been a tinge of corniness given the early hints of stomp-clap, car-commercial indie here, but the band’s commitment and chops sell the experience. Probably won’t return to this LP, but it was nice to see the band as more than a one-hit wonder.