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How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the third studio album by the English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, set to be released on 1 June 2015 through Island Records. The album was produced by Markus Dravs, with the final track on the album, "Mother", produced by Dravs and Paul Epworth.

Background

In 2011, the band released their second album, Ceremonials, which reached number one on the UK Albums Chart and number six on the US Billboard 200. The album included the song "Spectrum (Say My Name)" which was remixed by Scottish musician Calvin Harris and became the band's first UK number-one hit. In mid-2012, it was announced that Universal Republic Records was going defunct, moving all artists including Florence and the Machine to Republic Records making the label itself revived. In late August 2012, Welch told Style magazine that she plans to take a twelve-month hiatus before starting to work on the band's next studio album, stating, "There's a big 'take a year off' plan. The record company have put no pressure on me for the next album. They've said I can have as long as I want."

On 4 June 2014, Welch told NME that the band's third studio album was in the works. In January 2015, a fansite posted a photo showing Florence and the Machine's upcoming album being mixed in a recording studio. The photo was removed, since then the photo has appeared on multiple news websites.

Composition

Regarding the album themes, Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welch said in a press statement, "I guess although I've always dealt in fantasy and metaphor when I came to writing, that meant the songs this time were dealing much more in reality. Ceremonials was so fixated on death and water, and the idea of escape or transcendence through death, but the new album became about trying to learn how live, and how to love in the world rather than trying to escape from it. Which is frightening because I'm not hiding behind anything but it felt like something I had to do."

Recording

The material for the album was written and recorded thoughout 2014. Welch said that she wanted to work with Markus Dravs on the album, as he was the producer behind Björk's Homogenic, an important album to Welch. "I felt he had that balance of organic and electronic capabilities, managing those two worlds. And, you know, he's good with big sounds. And I like big sounds. And he's good with trumpets, and I knew I wanted a brass section on this record," she said in the press release. "With Markus, I wanted to make something that was big but that had a gentleness to it, that had a warmth, that was rooted. I think that's why we went back more to the live instruments. Something that was band-led almost," she added.

The brass arrangements on the album were done by Will Gregory of the English electronic music duo Goldfrapp. They are highlighted in the title track, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful". "The trumpets at the end of that song —that's what love feels like to me: an endless brass section that goes off into space. And it takes you with it. You're so up there. And that's what music feels like to me. You want it just to pour out endlessly, and it's the most amazing feeling," said Welch.

Promotion

On 10 February 2015, Florence and the Machine released a music video featuring a snippet of the album's title track, "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful". The video, which showed Welch dancing with her look-alike, was directed by Tabitha Denholm and Vincent Haycock and acted as an album teaser.

"What Kind of Man" was released as the lead single off the album two days later. The song was premiered on BBC Radio 1 on 12 February 2015 at 7:30 p.m. local time along with an announcement of the album's release date, title, and track listing. The music video, directed by Vincent Haycock and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, premiered online shortly afterwards, along with the album's pre-order.

The band has been confirmed for numerous European festivals in summer 2015, including Way Out West in Sweden, Super Bock Super Rock in Portugal and Rock Werchter in Belgium, among others.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Florence Welch, except where noted

Personnel

Release history

References

1. ^ Minsker, Evan (10 February 2015). "Florence and the Machine Share "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" Video". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 10 February 2015.
2. ^ Payne, Chris (12 February 2015). "Florence + the Machine Shares New Song/Music Video, Announces New Album Details". Billboard. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
3. ^ Grow, Kory (12 February 2015). "Florence and the Machine Announce New Album 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
4. "Florence and the Machine album takes number one". BBC News. 7 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
5. Caulfield, Keith (9 November 2011). "Justin Bieber's 'Mistletoe' Brightens Billboard 200 With No. 1 Debut". Billboard. Retrieved 17 March 2012.
6. Saunders, Louise (16 July 2012). "Worth the wait! Florence and the Machine score first ever UK number one single with Spectrum (Say My Name)". Daily Mail. Retrieved 18 July 2012.
7. "Florence and the Machine's Florence Welsh to 'take a year off'". NME. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 4 September 2012.
8. "Florence Welch feels she's been 'hiding in a studio 24 hours a day' working on new album". NME. 5 June 2014. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
9. ^ Geslani, Michelle (12 February 2015). "Florence & the Machine premiere "What Kind of Man", the first single from new album". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 12 February 2015.
10. ^ Carley, Brennan (12 February 2015). "Florence + the Machine Announce Third Album, 'How Big How Blue How Beautiful'". Spin. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
11. Young, Alex (10 February 2015). "Florence and the Machine premiere new song "How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful" — listen". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
12. ^ Gibsone, Harriet (12 February 2015). "Florence and The Machine announce details of new album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
13. Khomami, Nadia (5 January 2015). "Florence + The Machine's third album thought to be almost finished". NME. Retrieved 13 February 2015.

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• 2015 albums
• Albums produced by Markus Dravs
• Florence and the Machine albums
• Island Records albums
• Upcoming albums