Ceremonials

by Florence + the Machine

Overview

There's a point just past the halfway mark on "Shake It Out," the rousing first single from Florence + the Machine's second studio release, when the swelling guitars, organs, and strings, staccato percussion, and Florence Welch's air-raid siren of a voice lock up in a herculean battle over which one is going to launch itself into the stratosphere first. It's a contest that plays out at least once on each of Ceremonials' immaculately produced 12 tracks. Such carefully calculated moments of rhapsody would dissolve into redundant treacle in less capable hands, but Welch does emotional bombast better than any of her contemporaries, and when she wails into the black abyss above, the listener can't help but return the call. Bigger and bolder than 2009's excellent Lungs, Ceremonials rolls in like fog over the Thames, doling out a heavy-handed mix of Brit-pop-infused neo-soul anthems and lush, movie trailer-ready ballads that fuse the bluesy, electro-despair of Adele with the ornate, gothic melodrama of Kate Bush and Floodland-era Sisters of Mercy. Producer Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Friendly Fires) knows that the fiercest weapon in his arsenal is Florence herself, and he stacks her vocals accordingly, creating a fevered, pagan gospel choir on "What the Water Gave Me" and "Leave My Body," a ghostly, Phil Spector-ish chorale on the surprisingly Beatlesque "Breaking Down," and a defiant, uplifting horde of merry pranksters on the spirited "Heartlines," resulting in that rare sophomore outing that not only manages to avoid the slump, but bests its predecessor in the process. ~ James Christopher Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	11/11/2011
Label:	Island
UPC:	0602527850139
Rank:	2204

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Florence + the Machine   Primary Artist
James Ford   Primary Artist
Isabella Summers   Choir/Chorus,Bass,Bells,Piano,Celeste,Strings,Synthesizer
Rick Koster   Violin
Max Baillie   Viola
Oliver Langford   Violin
Jessie Ware   Vocals (Background)
Tom Monger   Harp,Guitar (Bass)
Rusty Bradshaw   Piano,Keyboards,Organ (Hammond),Vocals (Background)
Sam Paul Evans   Drums
Sian Alice   Vocals (Background)
Rob Ackroyd   Guitar
Mark Saunders   Bass,Guitar,Percussion,Vocals (Background),Bass,Guitar,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Christopher Lloyd Hayden   Drums,Percussion,Vocals (Background)
Sally Herbert   Violin
Warren Zielinski   Violin
Richard George   Violin
Jack Penate   Vocals (Background)
Lucy Shaw   Double Bass
Paul Epworth   Pump Organ
Lisa Moorish   Vocals (Background)
Ian Burdge   Cello
Gillon Cameron   Violin
Nikolaj Torplarsen   Piano
Florence Welch   Bass,Vocals

Technical Credits

Isabella Summers   Vocal Engineer,Drum Programming,Composer,Producer,Programming
Ben Mortimer   A&R
Emma Forrest   Liner Notes
Anthony Palman   Composer
Tom Hull   Composer
Ben Roulston   Engineer,Vocal Engineer,Additional Production
Austen Jux Chandler   Engineer
Ben Baptie   Assistant
Amanda Gosein   Composer
Bryan Andrew Wilson   Assistant
Mark Rankin   Engineer,Mixing,Engineer,Assistant
Peter Hutchings   Assistant Engineer
Tabitha Denholm   Art Direction
Tom Beard   Photography
James Ford   Mixing,Composer,Producer,Composer
Henrik Michelsen   Assistant Engineer
Bullion   Drum Programming
Charlie Hugall   Mixing,Producer
Ted Jensen   Mastering
Craig Silvey   Mixing
Eg White   Producer,Instrumentation
Sally Herbert   String Arrangements
Mark "Spike" Stent   Mixing
Paul Epworth   Composer,Producer
Matty Green   Assistant
Tom Elmhirst   Mixing
Aubrey Graham   Composer
Francis White   Composer
Noah Shebib   Composer
Florence Welch   Composer
Joseph Hartwell Jones   Assistant Engineer