Florence and the Machine: 'Lungs'

The story goes that Florence Welch came up with her current single 'Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)' when her label asked her to pen an uptempo hit for her debut album. In some respects she delivered their request, scoring a number 12 single with just enough melody packed into her cathartic mix of harp and drums to endear herself to radio playlisters. However, when you listen closer, there's something a little sinister lurking beneath the belting chorus. "This is the gift, it comes with a price," she hollers, before adding: "Who is the lamb, and who is the knife?" Could Florence actually be mocking her record company's demands within her 'hit' single? Even if that wasn't the direct intention, the track's twisted fairytale lyrics are hardly lighthearted stuff. Despite that Brit Award gong and turn-of-the-year critical acclaim, Florence clearly isn't ready to be moulded into a pop puppet anytime soon.

In fact, Florence retains a dark edge even on Lungs' poppier moments. A case in point is former single 'Kiss With A Fist', a catchy Libertines-esque guitar jangle accompanied by bleak refrains such as: "You smashed a plate over my head, then I set fire to our bed." Using violent imagery to describe a tempestuous relationship, she turns what should be a jaunty little ditty into something considerably more interesting. Meanwhile, on her cover of Candi Staton's 'You Got the Love', which closes the album, Florence reveals that she has the soulful pipes to challenge Duffy and Adele if she ever fancies such a chart battle. Thankfully, she's kept away from their bland ballads and 60s retro tunes here, choosing instead to create expansive and elaborate pop, which recalls - if not always reaching the same heights as - the likes of Kate Bush and Tori Amos.

Thematically, she dabbles in similar territory to her contemporary Bat For Lashes, with curious animal metaphors ('Dog Days Are Over') and darkly Gothic imagery ('Howl') the order of the day. The bluesy 'Girl With One Eye' finds her singing: "I took a knife and cut out her eye, I took it home and watched it wither and die," which must surely be enough to put anyone off crossing her romantic path ever again. Equally eye-opening is the stark rumble of 'Howl', which finds the singer bellowing: "Like some child possessed, the beast howls in my bed, I want to claw out and tear out all of your tenderness." A long way from the gleaming pop of La Roux or Little Boots, it now seems ridiculous that she was lumped in with the pair at the start of the year, seemingly on the sole basis that she's female.

Florence is at her best when she wraps her idiosyncratic, impassioned vocals and creepy lyrics within quirky melodies and soaring chorus climaxes. On 'My Boy Builds Coffins', a sweet mixture of harps and pattering drums provide some much-needed light as she sings about the darkest of subjects. She pulls off a similar trick with hand-claps and angelic harmonies on 'Between Two Lungs' and the jaunty 'Hurricane Drunk'. It's this ability to blend bleak and twisted lyrics with her own unique brand of uplifting and celebratory music which makes this record an exciting and special debut. Highly inappropriate in many ways for a Radio 2 mass audience, but with just enough musical cunning to lure them in, she could be on her way to very big things.