More Images. Please enable Javascript to take full advantage of our site features. Edit Master Release. Rock , Pop.

Special offers and product promotions
Navigation menu
Would you like to tell us about a lower price? If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support? In voice and, ultimately, outlook Florence has never sounded better. Deluxe edition includes 5 x bonus tracks. Skip to main content. Buy new:.
Florence and the Machine's How Big How Blue How Beautiful – trailer
It was released on 29 May , by Island Records. After returning from her year-long hiatus from music, lead vocalist Florence Welch returned to configure How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful , recording material that dealt with personal conflicts and struggles. In comparison to their last two studio albums, the album is much more refined and stripped-down instrumentally, and incorporates a mixture of musical influences such as folk , blues and gospel. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was met with positive reviews from music critics , who commended the album for its cohesion, production and Welch's vocal delivery. Additionally, it appeared on several year-end critics' lists. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 68, copies sold in its first week, becoming the band's third consecutive number-one album. The album earned the band five Grammy Award nominations, in addition to being shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. In , Florence and the Machine released their second studio album, Ceremonials , which became their second consecutive effort to peak at number one on the UK Albums Chart , as well as their first to reach the top 10 of the US Billboard , peaking at number six. The record company have put no pressure on me for the next album. They've said I can have as long as I want".
Thus far, Welch has spent her career behaving as though understatement was something you should go out of your way to avoid contracting: everything from vocals to visuals is pitched at a level just shy of frenzied. In fairness, there are a couple of moments where things are dialled down slightly. On her previous albums, she essayed everything from ballads to EDM fluff in a war-cry bellow, suggestive of furrowed brows and bulging veins. Here, however, Long and Lost features the hitherto-unimaginable sound of Welch singing softly: there are massed backing vocals, but they stay muted and distant, haloed in reverb.