How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful Tracklist
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the third studio album by Florence + the Machine. It was released in May 2015. Florence Welch touched on the album in a press release:
I guess although I’ve always dealt in fantasy and metaphor when I came to writing, that meant the songs this time were dealing much more in reality. Ceremonials was so fixated on death and water, and the idea of escape or transcendence through death, but the new album became about trying to learn how live, and how to love in the world rather than trying to escape from it. Which is frightening because I’m not hiding behind anything but it felt like something I had to do.
Produced by Markus Dravs (Björk, Arcade Fire, Coldplay), the album also includes contributions from Paul Epworth, Kid Harpoon and John Hill. Welch had been a fan of Dravs' work on Björk’s Homogenic, which she described as “a huge record” for her.
The album was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Prize and five 2015 Grammy Awards: Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Recording Package, Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance for “What Kind of Man”, and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Ship to Wreck”.
Commercially, the album was a success. It reached #1 on several charts including Billboard 200 (United States), ARIA (Australia), OCC (United Kingdom). It was the band’s first album to reach #1 on the Billboard 200 chart. In 2015, the album sold over 1,000,000 copies worldwide. It achieved many certifications: 2 x Platinum in Poland, Platinum status in Australia and the United Kingdom and Gold in Austria and New Zealand.
“How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful” Q&A
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Translations:
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Does this album have any RIAA certification?
Yes, How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was certified gold by RIAA, which indicates an estimated sale of 500,000 equivalent copies in the US.
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Was the album supposed to be called with a different name?
Yes. Florence Welch stated in an interview that she wanted the album to be a continuation of Ceremonials, with dark, orchestral and aggressive sounds. The album was supposed to be called Tantalus and was designed to be a conceptual album about a witch going on a trial in Hollywood accused of killing her man. Later her producer convinced her to change its direction so the project was scrapped. A demo with the same title is available online. The only song from the original project making the final cut is “Which Witch” included in its demo version as a bonus track.
