It’s that time of year again. The daylight hours lessen, the weather grows colder, but most importantly; the Mercury Prize nominations for Album of the Year are announced. This year’s closely selected panel of judges including the likes of Nick Mulvey and MistaJam have narrowed down over 250 British albums released in the past twelve months to a shortlist of just twelve of the best. So we here at The Indiependent have decided to tell you who we believe deserves this year’s prize…
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful// Florence + The Machine
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the stunning third studio album by indie-rock band, Florence + The Machine. The album was released in May 2015 and is arguably their strongest album to date due to the sheer quality and inventiveness of each and every track featured on the album.
As always, lead singer Florence Welch boasts distinctive, soulful vocals and, similarly to the albums Lungs and Ceremonials, destructive relationships are a key theme, along with beautiful metaphors and biblical references scattered throughout. What differs to Florence + The Machine’s previous two albums however, is the pure depth of it, and the fact that every single track is captivating in its own way, from the memorably powerful and condemning ‘What Kind of Man’ to the stripped back, raw and intimate ‘Long and Lost’.
The content of the album flows perfectly, and there is a mix of ballad-like songs, which brings purity and calmness to the album with enchanting, cathedral-esque vocals, and more upbeat tracks, giving us the powerful, wild emotional rawness that Florence does best.
The album completely absorbs the listener and, due to Florence Welch’s rare gift of being able to portray meaningful stories throughout her songs, she shares with us her spiritual and emotional journeys.
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is haunting, atmospheric and incredibly well crafted, and for this reason it certainly deserves to win the Mercury Prize 2015 Album of the Year Award.
Words by Sarah Turner