The Definitive Guide to Living in the Capital , Cairo , Egypt

Not many acts have taken so much of the
world by such a storm like Florence + The Machine has. London singer Florence
Welch crafted a catchy, personal and commercial mainstay of a record with 2009’s
Lungs, and so another indie, pop,
experimental masterpiece has been long expected with Ceremonials.

‘Only If For a Night’ is a dramatic start
to the album. In true Florence form, a haunting piano breaks into grand beats
within the first thirty seconds. ‘Shake it Out’ follows a similar pattern and
is a perfect single; dramatic beats are occasionally broken to give space for
Welch’s voice to create a crescendo from which the anthem-like chorus explodes.

‘What the Water Gave Me’ starts with tensed
harp melodies and a boggy sounding backing vocal, before again working into a
faster beat.  Like its name suggests, ‘Never
Let Me Go’ is an 80s style ballad, that passes by casually despite Welch’s
touches.  It makes way for a light
indie-pop number, though; ‘Breaking Down’ sounds like it could have come from
Camera Obscura or Belle and Sebastian.

The tone of the album takes another shift
with ‘Lover to Lover’, and see’s Welch at her sassiest in a polished but
soulful song. The usual sharp and tinny melodies make way for much deeper
piano sounds.

‘No Light, No Light’ takes Welch back to
her special brand of blasé angst, and uses harps to create dreamy interludes that
set you up for more hammered drums. ‘Seven Devils’ is dark, echoey and tailor
made for dramatic film trailer clips of a shirtless man standing in the rain
looking solemnly into the distance. Talk of devils, holy water, exorcisms and
death make the song as sinister as it is potentially profound.

The catchy clap-along beats of ‘Heartlines’
pass by without neither offending nor arousing,  to the more bluesy ‘Spectrum’ and baroque pop tune
‘All This and Heaven Too’. ‘Leave My Body’ is a fitting finale, as gospel-sounding
backing vocals against trademark big beats pull down the curtain.

The layers of every song on Ceremonials are intricately arranged for
a grandness that too often leads you down the same path. This isn’t to say that
each track doesn’t have its own qualities, but they are unvaryingly cut from
the same mould, and bare the same sentiments onto you. The album as a whole is
easy to indulge in, but it lacks the balance between emotion and structure. Too
much machine, not enough Florence.