From the minute Florence + The Machine stormed the UK music scene – a crimson blur of lace, Celtic bombast and an arresting voice – it was clear Florence Welch would never get lost amid the crowded pop landscape. Breaking away from the blue-eyed soul model set by Amy Winehouse, Duffy and the like, Florence was a different breed of rock star. Her debut album, Lungs, is a celebration of the theatrical – both in sound and imagery – and fraught with emotion. It was one of the biggest debut albums of the decade, earning a 2009 Mercury Prize nomination and a Critics’ Choice award at the Brits.

Lungs plays like a greatest hits package rather than a debut album. From the blues stomp of “Girl With One Eye” to the gospel-tinged “Hurricane,” a soulful cover of Candi Staton’s 90s club classic “You’ve Got The Love” and the anthemic rock of “Dog Days Are Over,” Lungs revealed the full spectrum of Welch’s potential. The record spans Welch’s coming of age, a period of five years, starting aged 18, during which she wrote most of its songs. As she put it, Lungs was “very demonstrative of a journey” and “scrapbook through those years.” 

If the pre-Raphaelite cover didn’t make it clear, Lungs is not a lo-fi record. The Machine grew to a seven-piece band and the album is a sumptuous collection of plinking harps, soaring strings, xylophones and Welch’s greatest instrument of all, her voice. But thanks to an enviable team of veteran producers, including James Ford (Simian Mobile Disco, Arctic Monkeys), Paul Epworth (Bloc Party) and Stephen Mackey (Pulp), Lungs never overpowers itself. In a career acutely attuned to theatrics, Lungs was just the first act.