As musical divas go, Florence Welch is in a league all her own. She made that clear at 2011’s Grammy Awards, when she took to the stage alongside Christina Aguilera and Jennifer Hudson, showing them both up with a gold dress, a gold microphone and her golden pipes. Then there’s 'Dog Days Are Over', her first international hit with Florence and the Machine. The song has been inspiring fits of hand clapping wherever it’s heard since it dropped in late 2008.
Last year’s 'Ceremonials' marked Florence and the Machine’s triumphant return, cementing Welch’s place as a wonderfully eccentric pop star: a more upbeat Fiona Apple, say, or, with this latest at least, a more spiritual Kate Bush. Each subsequent hit from the band is a sleeping giant. The latest, 'Shake It Out' and 'Spectrum', simmer with gurgling keyboards and simmering strings before erupting with galloping drums, majestic harp and Welch’s bravado.