Florence + The Machine Ceremonials (2 Lp's) 011026 4 Three Little Birds 1

4 Three Little Birds 1

allowing lead singer Jesse Rutherford a chance to sing with even more intimacy and nuance

inexpensively made demo tape -- paid for by Black Francis' dad -- the band made at Boston's legendary Fort Apache studio soon after they formed

just hinted at Rihanna's sudden desire to provoke

Florence + The Machine Ceremonials (2 Lp's) 011026 4 Three Little Birds 1There's a point just past the halfway mark on "Shake It Out," the rousing first single from Florence + the Machine's second studio release, when the swelling guitars, organs, and strings, staccato percussion, and Florence Welch's air raid siren of a voice lock up in a herculean battle over which one is going to launch itself into the stratosphere first. It's a contest that plays out at least once on each of Ceremonials' immaculately produced 12