Music Monday: Florence + The Machine

It’s Music Monday! What does that mean? The Central Mississippi Regional Library System has a ridiculous amount of FREE to you resources available for patrons. One of those is Freegal, a free and legal service that allows patrons to download three songs each week for FREE (notice the emphasis on free). Every Monday we’ll be picking three songs that we love that are available on Freegal for you to download.

Anna was lovely enough to mention Florence Welch in last week’s Music Monday post, and I realized that my obsession with Florence + The Machine could not be bottled up any longer.

It had been a while since I’d loved an album in its entirety like I loved their first album, Lungs, so I was nervous when Ceremonials came out. Sophomore slump is a real thing, y’all—but apparently not for Florence, because Ceremonials took what I loved about Lungs and flew with it. Lungs is beautifully haunting, and while many tracks on Ceremonials certainly have that vibe (Seven Devils and Leave My Body being the two most prominent examples), the rest is like coming up for air from the bottom of the ocean. I have yet to hear the entirety of their newest album, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, but I’m so excited (especially if What Kind of Man and Ship to Wreck are any indication of its quality)! They just keep growing and evolving for the better, and I love it.

I’m about as terrible as Stefani is at picking just three, but I’m going to try to narrow my selections down as best I can:

1. Howl – This one starts relatively quietly but builds into something epic. It’s dark and it’s creepy and intimate and basically, if there was a movie about The Wolf Man that wasn’t terrible, this song would be its theme.
2. Between Two Lungs – This one is weird, but, like, in a really good way? Unconventional music style plus strange pauses keep you on your toes, but it’s beautiful, and if you’re not smiling at the end then I’ve got nothing for you.
3. All This and Heaven Too – This may be the single most adorable song in the world about why love is both bizarre and awesomely indescribable.

Other favorites include: Strangeness and Charm, Blinding, and No Light, No Light. And, you know, all the rest.

If any of these catch your eye, head on over Freegal and download them, or check out some of Florence + The Machine’s other music! All you need is your library card and pin number, and you’re good to go!

-Kayla