New Florence + the Machine album 'Ceremonials' to drop Nov. 1st

Gaining a huge amount of buzz following their impressive performance of second single "Dog Days Are Over" at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards, British rock outfit Florence + the Machine subsequently saw a huge rise in the sales of their debut album "Lungs" Stateside, where it eventually reached Gold certification.

Now the band, fronted by soulful lead vocalist Florence Welch, has announced a Nov. 1st release date in the U.S. for their second album, entitled "Ceremonials" (it drops a day earlier in the U.K.). The title of the new album comes from a Frida Kahlo painting.

The first song from the album, "What the Water Gave Me", previously debuted late last month with an accompanying video. Its bombastic nature adheres closely to the band's sound on "Lungs", though with a somewhat darker undertone, as referenced by lyrics such as "Lay me down/Let the only sound/Be the over flow/Pockets full of stones" (a reference to Virginia Woolf's suicide). Not that their first album was exactly light, with song titles like "My Boy Builds Coffins" being part of the mix.

I'm expecting even bigger things going forward for the band, as Welch's powerful vocals - combined with the group's unique sound and sometimes obtuse lyrical content - certainly make a unique impression in the current pop landscape.