Florence + the Machine, ‘Spectrum’ – Song Review

Florence Welch has her next beautiful beyond belief single slotted for July 8: the exultant 'Spectrum,' which has Florence + the Machine's thousand-angel-choir choruses lifted to new heavenly heights.

The track begins with tense, pulled strings and Welch listless, weak and wan, "with no colors on our skin / We were light and paper thin." They (she and her muse, presumably) are monotone, and we the listeners are, too. What's wrong, Flo? You need to let the spectrum in -- and the rhythm section, too. Suddenly, everything is in color -- and we're singing along in public.

Even by Welchian standards, ‘Spectrum’ is epic. Listening to her gorgeous “and the colors illuminate” in the chorus is equivalent to riding a dragon over a rainbow. You can feel that spectrum, that great Roy G Biv of light, bursting through your pores as her voices reverberates up your spine.

As we noted, Welch is teaming up with photographer/director David LaChapelle to create a piece of film for the song, which surely will be a hyper-saturated vampy vignette like we've never seen before. What the dude did with Lady Gaga's photos and Amy Winehouse's video were high contrast contemporary classics. Add that to Welch's immortal resplendence, and that's maximal audio/visual art on our hands, ears and eyes.

Listen to Florence + the Machine's 'Spectrum'