Ceremonials is a stunningly accomplished record by an artist teetering on the wind-blown top of her game, an extraordinary testament to what Florence refers to as "my incorrigible maximalism". The pounding epiphanic positivism of Spectrum; the galloping massed-ranks majesty of All This And Heaven Too and Shake It Out; the triumphant emotional battle cries of No Light No Light and Heartlines.
Spend a little time with Ceremonials and what strikes you first and foremost is the apparent confidence of its execution. Recorded with her full band over five weeks this summer in Abbey Road's legendary Studio 3, Ceremonials is another product of her long-running collaboration with producer Paul Epworth. Together they've created an expansive art-pop vision that can be both captivatingly tender while still frequently soaring to places where it can overwhelm the senses like an emotive tidal wave. It's a rich tapestry that unpicks the conventions of classic pop, shoots them through a black hole and reconstitutes them into a multi-layered, future-primitive stomp. And underpinning it all, Florence's beguiling, epic vocals. A mature masterpiece that confirms its creator is in for the long haul.
Track List:
1. Only If For A Night
2. Shake It Out
3. What The Water Gave Me
4. Never Let Me Go
5. Breaking Down
6. Lover To Lover
7. No Light, No Light
8. Seven Devils
9. Heartlines
10. Spectrum v
11. All This And Heaven Too
12. Leave My Body