Florence's well-oiled machine

Tip: Divide appreciation of “Ceremonials” into parts. 

With her second album, Florence Welch dips a toe into sophomore slump but manages not to sink into the quicksand. Her wide-ranging, grandiose vocal presence and impressive layering of a plethora of sounds ensure that every song on the album shines. But since it fights to stand out, the record’s cohesiveness is disastrously affected. 

Compared to “Lungs,” “Ceremonials” offers listeners a completely different, almost otherworldly experience. Where Welch amazed with a simplistic but powerful musical and lyrical core in her first offering, she digs deeper to produce a darker and more complex sound this time around. 

The soothing and intricate arrangement of strings and keys still permeates the record, as does the disperse yet prominent thumping drumbeat. Welch’s voice continues its trend of upward scale to banshee howls in most of the recordings, justifying her place as queen of feline power. 

As a sure sign of musical growth, the band chugs through each track on “Ceremonials” like a well-oiled machine. The album has a tighter focus on baroque pop and, thanks to the Midas touch of star British producer Paul Epworth, reusing some of the winning formula that catapulted “Lungs” to renown and ubiquity, is steered in the right direction. 

The two most memorable tunes — unsurprisingly, pre-launch hits — are “What the Water Gave Me” and “Shake It Out.” The former is built on an eerie hook, while the latter harks back to Welch’s older material in terms of chord progression, macabre lyrics and the swaying of vigorous vocal exercise.   

Even with the heavy and somber throbbing beats, the album comes to air with glimpses of upbeat British soul. “Lover to Lover” contains blues-tinged wording, and is reminiscent of Ella-style robustness. 

But where the first album relied on strong, sharp lyrics and unforgettable melodies, this album seems to place complex instrumentation and layering first. 

Thankfully, Welch will never fit into the typical pop star mold. But in an era where cool is less than it is more, where the artsy, intellectual artist label is by invitation only, she is trying a little too hard to impress.