Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine has become a top contender for the category of Ultimate BrainCrush. Well, if I’m being totally honest, she’s more of a standard-issue “can we go make out now, please?” crush than a BrainCrush, but to avoid turning into a creepy Stalky McStalkerton, let’s go with the BrainCrush classification. Ahem.

Florence sounds like a cross between Amy Winehouse (minus the drug overdose) and Amy Lee of Evanescence (minus the Christian overtones).

Her lyric material ranges from werewolfism (“Howl”) to mythic sacrificial rituals (“Rabbit-Hearted Girl [Raise It Up]“) to post-modern fairy tale allusions (“Blinding”).

There’s something very urgent and earnest about her voice. It’s unvarnished, without that soaked-in-bourbon-rawness common to so many female belters.

Oh, and did I mention she’s absolutely drop-dead gorgeous?

I’ll admit that I’m not a fan of Florence’s first single, “Kiss with a Fist” — a punchy  track (parden the pun) that smacks (pardon the pun again) of domestic violence glorification. I’m sure Florence doesn’t intend the lyrics to be taken literally, but beyond my issues with the song’s subject matter, it just doesn’t showcase her stellar voice as well as the other 13 tracks on her debut album, Lungs (Island Records, 2009).

“Kiss with a Fist” notwithstanding, Lungs is a powerhouse album that’ll bore into your skull in the best possible way.

Welch: I’d love to prepare a silver platter of Vegemite on toast and share it with you, and then dance maniacally beneath the waning moon.

(Photo via UK Daily Mail)