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The album cover of my choice was the 'Lungs' album. I chose this because it had depth to it with several hidden meanings within it.

SYMBOLISM

Cherry blossom.
Cherry blossom symbolizes the departure of winter, and so the arrival of spring. Spring is associated with the beginning of the life cycle. The presence of the cherry blossom on the cover suggests that this album could be end of a difficult time in her career, and in a sense the birth of a new fresh career, and the blossoming of a new reformed artist. It also symbolizes the promise of fruit to come, which suggests that we have yet to see the best of her abilities.   Another meaning linked to cherry blossom is nature and feminine beauty. Florence's overall style is fresh, clean, youthful and very mush inspired by nature, and in many ways conveys innocence and vulnerability.


Colours.
The colour green represents: the colour of nature, growth, freshness, fertility, hope, stability, endurance, safety, ambition, greed and jealousy. 


Green symbolizes growth, which could suggest both the growth of Florence as an artist, and the hopeful expansion of her fan base. This in turn will create stability for her career, along with financial stability which in essence will enable a safe and secure lifestyle. Dark green is associated with ambition, showing that she is driven to achieve her goals. However it also represents greed, which suggests she will be willing to change who she is as an artist to increase her fan base, and in turn increase her earnings. However in doing this, she will create a potential downfall of her career, as she will lose the freshness and differentiation she was best known for. This is what made her the artist she is today. 


Lungs.Lungs represents: insight, creativity and inspiration. I believe these qualities pretty much sum up Florence and the machine. They are musically creative, producing music different from what has become the 'norm' for this generation.  This in turn has enabled them to become a key influence to other artists and inspirational to people both musically and character based. Their stand to produce the music that they love may have helped to encourage people to stand up for what they want, not just regarding music, but many other professions or goals. Alternatively lungs may also indicate a stressful situation, or refer to a situation in which you feel suffocated. This could suggest that the fame Florence has experienced could have overwhelmed her, creating stress. There is also the added pressure to continue to produce new fresh music, music that doesn't sound too similar to that of older material, however remains true to her style. This may be another factor that has contributed to her edging more to the pop genre, as this could be what she feels appeals to most people, which prompts the saying 'you can't please everybody.'

BODY LANGUAGE

Stance. Her stance suggests that she is open; however her arms folding towards her head suggests that she is still guarding herself, she’s not completely confident and she is still trying to hide away to a certain extent. This protectiveness could be due to the constant scrutiny by both the media and the public that comes hand in hand with fame. It could also perhaps indicate her lack of confidence in the new career path, she is attempting to protect herself from the unknown response of the public's rating. I believe this uncertainty shows.

Facial expression.
The position of her face and the fact she is facing down suggests she is shying away or holding something back, a secret perhaps? Her closed eyes show vulnerability and lack of confidence. Both of these elements of body language could also suggest she has not yet peaked, and reached her full potential. This could indicate she has not yet fully grown as an artist, and there is still more to come. 

VICTORIAN REFERENCE

The overall styling of the album cover is very much Victorian inspired, from the hair to the shape of the garment, to the fabric and even the choice of plant. 

Hair.         

           

The style of Florence's hair has been heavily influenced by the style of which women of the Victorian era wore their hair. The long locks of hair have been pinned into a curly almost messy looking up-do, with the exception of the shorter bangs that curled down each side of the face.

Neckline and sleeves.      

            

The square neckline of the garment is similar to that of the Victorian evening gowns shown on the first image. The position of Florence's arms allows the tasseled material to drape, creating the illusion of the gigot sleeves shown on second image, view 4 best relates as it is drawn in at the elbow before the fabric is once again released. The length of the sleeve is also the same in both. 

Damask fabric. Damask is a Victorian print used for fabrics. It is very nature inspired, many of the prints consist of flowers and leaves combined into a repeat pattern. To me the shadows in the damask printed material present in the background of the album cover, at a glance, almost creates the illusion of trees.

Make up.

The choice of make-up for the cover was also inspired by the Victorian era. The skin is pale with a gentle rosiness to the cheeks, minimal eye make-up was used, and a subtle pink shade was applied to the lips.

Lungs.

The lungs used on the cover were made by designed and produced by the Maccabees front man Orlando Weeks. He quoted : "I was going for a Victoriana, industrial punchbag kind of look. It took ages - I was on tour while I was working on those lungs."