First of all, let me start by thanking all of you for being so patient. This album really requires some patience when it comes to getting all of it. It's a grower and it's much more complex and different than it seems at first glance. If I have to describe it with some words it would be: a mess. But a beautiful mess. It's a very chaotic album. A very sad album. Florence didn't hold anything back, she let all of her emotions out in the most real way possible. And it feels right. She isn't drowning in her sadness anymore, she bleeded it out literally in this piece of music. It's the rawest album I've heard in a long time. It's also very organic. It gets really experimental at times. Her approach is totally different compared to the one in Lungs and Ceremonials. This time it's not all about writing the grand melodies that made us love her previous music so much. It's more about channeling her emotions. That's why the album may be a little bit challenging for some of you who expect her to do the same thing each and every time.
Now about the questions that you gave me.
- What is Queen of Peace about, a snippet of lyrics, anything you can say about the theme of the song? Is it an upbeat song, happy, what does it sound like, old florence or new, etc. Anything about its sound!
- It's still very difficult for me to talk about the album lyrics-wise even though I get most of it. She uses a lot of metaphors as always. It's probably the fastest song on the album. I can't help but dance all around the room while listening. The verses have that very beautiful folk-y melody and the chorus is kinda very loud and catchy. She doesn't say "queen of peace" in the chorus but only at the beginning of the second verse. The brass section kicks in the intro with this heavenly folk melody that make it sound somehow cinematic. The same melody returns again before the last chorus and after it. Queen Of Peace is gonna be the highlight of the album for many of you, I'm sure. A snippet of lyrics: "Blood is running deep, sorrow that you keep. The damage is already done, cause you're driving me away."
- Are the strings in Various Storms & Saints very present? Is it huge and epic? What does the song sound like? Do you have an idea of what it is about?
- The song begins with a quiet guitar intro. There are some strings in the song but they are more like a background sound, making the atmosphere very dense. No drums in the song. It's just a guitar, some background atmospheric sounds, strings and her voice. Her singing is very intense and emotional. It's a really painful song. She must have been in a great suffering while writing it. A snippet of lyrics: "The monument of a memory, it tear it down in your head. Don't make the mountain your enemy, gotta get up there instead."
- Is Delilah a sad song? What emotion describes it? Is it dark, slow, fast? Rock-y or electronic? Guitar-heavy? Do you have an idea of what it is about? Is it alluding to the Hebrew story of Sampson and Delilah?
- I really got the idea of this song after I read her interview with Sunday Times Magazine that was posted some pages back. She said that she wrote one of the songs, while in Jamaica, waiting for a phone call from her special someone. She was refusing to go out and enjoy the beautiful place, she was being so sad and confused, crying all the time. That's what this song is all about. Waiting for something that won't happen. That also must have been the first song she wrote for the album, based on the interview. It starts quite slow but becomes faster and faster towards the end. It's not a ballad. Some tambourine sounds in addition to the drums. A snippet of lyrics: "Drifting through the holes with the sunrise, holding on for your call. Cause I'm gonna be free and I'm gonna be fine. Maybe not tonight."
- Long & Lost was described as upbeat and easily re-listenable. Is it fun and happy? It's short, does it feel too short? Anything about it, either sound-wise or lyrically/thematically!
- Ahahaha, upbeat and easily re-listenable? Not sure about that. It's a ballad and a very blues-y and groovy one. The minimal drums are not organic sounding but more like the beats Lana Del Rey used in her debut. It's a very atmospheric piece. Very stripped back. I love it so much. I guess some fans may feel as if the album is too balladic at this point but that's not a problem for me, personally. It's not fun or happy. It's another painful and raw track. It doesn't really feel too short. It's good for what it is and it's enough. A snippet of lyrics: "I need the clouds to cover me. Pulling me down, surround me. Without your love I'll be so long and lost - I'm missing me. But it's too late to come on home..."
- Can you tell us anything about Caught? We don't know anything.
- Caught is another ballad but a different type of one. It's the "slowly-dancing-under-the-strobelight" ballad. There's kind of a sweetness in the song. It's a beautiful piece but it hasn't grown on me yet. It's not something that I hate so I guess I'll just have to get used to it. A snippet of lyrics: "And I'm trashing (?) (not sure about that word) on the line - somewhere between desperate and divine. I can't keep calm, I can't keep still."
- In Third Eye, does she shout the verses and final hook ("i'm the same, i'm the same, i'm trying to change!") like she does in live performances?
- Sorry to disappoint you but she doesn't really shout it the same way. I guess it's just a live-thing, you know. Like the way she shouts in the last chorus of What Kind Of Man, as well. Other than that, Third Eye sounds like a breath of fresh air after all the ballads at this point of the album. It's gonna be an instant Florence classic, I guess.
- Mother was described as psychedelic blues. What do you think? good description? is there growth/dyanmics/crescendos in it? It's the longest track, so does it feel
long? What is it about? Is it quiet or loud, fast or slow, happy or sad? Does it "feel" like an album closer?
- It's not the sound I was expecting from this song. It's not the most blues-y song on the album actually even though it has some kind of a classic-rock sound. The chorus is VERY LOUD and almost angry. She's singing/shouting: "Mother, make me a bird of prey. So I can rise above this..." Later she sings "Oh Lord, won't you leave me? Leave me on my knees. Cause I belong to the ground now and it belongs to thee (or me?). Her vocals sound very Tori Amos-inspired at some points. The song gets quite chaotic in the last two minutes, very noisy and psychotic with all the psychedelic sounds coming and tearing her voice apart. The guitars start sounding as if they are wailing, becoming more and more distorted. There is some kind of growth and climax in the way that the song starts quite controlled and it gradually becomes this chaotic piece. Moreover, after all of the introverted emotions and pain in the previous songs, it feels like she's finally letting all of her anger and confusion out and just trashing everything. It's painful but it feels like a cathartic ending.
- Is there something similar to As Far As I Could Get?
- Listen, the album is very homogeneous and As Far As I Could Get is not an exception. It sounds like it could be in the album and fits the theme of almost all other songs. So in a way, I feel like some songs do have a similiar vibe to it with the closest one probably being Long & Lost (except being more balladic and guitar-driven).
Now to the general questions.
Favorite song and least favorite song, and why?
- It's very hard to talk about a favourite and a least favourite song in an album this homogeneous. It feels like all the songs complеte each other in order to build this huge monument of emotion. It even feels like one big conceptual piece - a concept album with all the songs being connected in a way. St Jude sounds like the end of something - like that moment when you realize that it's over and you got to go away. And Mother feels like trying to find the power to survive all of this. The one song that's been the hardest for me to get into is Caught. But that's so far. I like its sound as well so maybe it's a matter of time. I guess Queen Of Peace's gonna be the highlight for most of you. It's ECSTATIC.
Most happy/upbeat?
- There are not really happy songs, lyric-wise. The most upbeat ones are Ship To Wreck, the title track, Queen Of Peace, Delilah and Third Eye.
Most sad? Most angry?
- Most sad - Various Storms & Saints, Long & Lost and St Jude. Most angry - What Kind Of Man and Mother.
Does each song seem to have good lyrics?
- Of course. You shall never doubt Florence's lyrical genius!
Is there one song that her vocals really stand out?
- Well her voice stands out on all of the songs. But there's one particular moment in Delilah where her voice sounds like something I haven't heard before from her and it's extremely beautiful. She sings with that voice: "Too fast for freedom. Sometimes it all falls down. These chains never leave me. I keep dragging them around."
Is there a Rabbit Heart 2.0? Cosmic Love 2.0? Spectrum 2.0? Never Let me Go 2.0? Shake It Out 2.0? No light, No Light 2.0?
- No. Forget about all of that. Florence doesn't have to do the same thing over and over again. Period.
Do any songs on the album sound like her previous work on Lungs and/or Ceremonials, or are they all a little different?
- Same answer.
Is the album (or any songs specifically) sort of stripped back like she hinted at, or is it still pretty huge like the other two albums?
- It is mostly stripped back in a sense that it feels more natural and organic and is recorded the old way. It almost feels like listening to one of the classic Fleetwood Mac albums, for example. Not to mention that I get serious Stevie Nicks-vibe in Florence this era, ahaha. But I can also say there is something huge about it
as well, but not in the same way like the other two albums. The brass section makes it sound grand and very solemn in a way and the big vocal moments are here as always.
I hope you're happy with this description. Enjoy!
poor tom
SO EPIC
I hope that Deluxe and Target edition tracks will be more exciting