Lungs (2009)
13 tracks, 46 minutes
Spotify • iTunes
This album is solidified in my mind as the soundtrack to my college days. It just makes me think of those sort of endless summers that only ever exist after about ten years of brain-fade have changed up those memories, bonkers hormones and cider that I didn’t even drink particularly much of because I was under 18 and basically quite rule-abiding.
The opening track, ‘Dog Days Are Over’ was of course a big hit around that time, and considering that omnipresent songs are rarely as good as this one, I actually got well into it. It was also helped by the fact that when everyone in our Media Studies A-level class had to make music videos for any track of our choosing, the best one musically came from someone who chose ‘Dog Days’…after my own of course. Then there’s also the track ‘Girl With One Eye’, which I still find a really cool addition to a number one album. It’s actually a cover – something I learnt just now – of little-known and, as far as I can tell, short-lived rock band The Ludes, but this particular track is a slow and slinky blues number with some really dark and gothic imagery. It really allows Flo’s voice to shine, sometimes going from quiet, near-whispering to almost operatic vaults.
Having not listened to this album for absolutely years, the rest of it sort of merged in my mind to blurs of baroque-pop, and listening to it again now, that’s actually pretty accurate. As in, it sounds blurry. Not in a bad way, but it’s all quite washed-out and shimmering. That’s what it is! It’s not just my brain making up these rose-tinted memories, it’s like the music of that time was built specifically for reminiscing to, even when it first came out.
It’s a strange one for me, then, because I can’t really tell if it’s held up well over the last ten years. It has entangled itself so well in my memories that I can’t really extract them. But hey, if you’re a twenty-something rapidly approaching thirtidom, dig this album back out and let me know if it’s just me that it seems to have created strange, possibly unreal memories for, or whether I should get that checked out by a certified health professional.
Flo came to my attention from the BBC introducing gigs on the radio. Back at the time I had a compilation of her demo's for Lungs which to me is the BEST! she has ever done and a lot rougher than her slick albums to follow. I saw Flo do her first festival headliner at Latitude back in 2010, superb set with her friend and family joining in. very special.
ReplyDeleteHi Grey, thanks for that. That album of demos sounds really interesting, I'd love to give it a listen if you still have it!
DeleteSorted see ya dad. Possibly the best ever version of My Boy Builds Coffins. I lost my copy so called it in from a friend and sadly some tracks are missing but hey ho there are some extras.. enjoy.
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