Florence + The Machine — Ceremonials

I bought the follow-up to Florence + the Machine’s debut pretty much as soon as it came out in 2011, and listened to it a lot back then. The songs are excellent, and I think the flow and mood of the album even more so – I tend not to think of most of the songs individually but as part of the album sound. As with a lot of music I consumed digitally, I didn’t even pay a lot of attention to song titles – even when I can get the song titles to display on my computer, it’s just not the same relationship to music as sitting and staring at the album cover as I listen to the record.

As a result, as I look at the track listing, I have to concentrate to remember what some of these songs are, but once I put it on, I know every note on the album. Some records are like that.

Still, the tracks that really resonate for me are “Shake It Out,” “What The Water Gave Me,” “Seven Devils,” and the anthemic “Heartlines.”

As with the aforementioned “Lungs,” I only got this on vinyl earlier this year (2022), and I must say, it really deepened my appreciation for this album. Once “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” came out, I kinda treated that as the Florence + the Machine album – if I was in a Florence mood, that’s what went on. But now that I have this on vinyl (and don’t have “How Big, etc.”), “Ceremonials” is getting much more play and much more appreciation.

As with “Lungs,” this was another album my kids and I experienced at the same time, could always agree on listening to. It’s less of a bonding memory than the discovery of “Lungs” was, but it still feels like my family’s music, which is important.

I had to check to be sure, but I wasn’t surprised that as big an artist as Florence was given a vinyl issue back in 2011 when this was released. However, I wasn’t collecting vinyl (or much of anything) at that time. This reissue is from 2018, and it’s quite beautifully done.

I am still dying to get my hands on a copy of “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.”