Quick take: Ceremonials
Florence + the Machine’s sophomore album, Ceremonials, finally dropped today in the US! I’ll give it plenty of listens before I come up with a final verdict, but so far, it seems to be a bit more uneven/disjointed than Lungs. Sometimes the songs are so grandiose and eccentric that they drag (All This and Heaven Too), but other times the combination works (Seven Devils).
Then again, I didn’t like Shake It Out upon first listen, and only grew to love it after repeat plays, so I may end up changing my mind.
[Addendum - Nov. 16] Final verdict: Like the album a lot. Notice I didn’t say ‘love’ though, and that’s because 1) Ceremonials’s gothic feel can cross over into tiresome depending on the day and 2) there are a couple songs that I actually strongly dislike.
