-
10.0
105695
10.0 |
Sputnik Music (staff)
A subtly beautiful piece that opens up a new door for the future of the band
Read Review
-
9.0
105702
9.0 |
Drowned In Sound
It’s raw, human, stripped of all excess and laid bare – and it’s quite possibly the most beautiful thing the band has ever released. Near perfection
Read Review
-
8.4
105649
8.4 |
AU Review
A less is more approach was key with High As Hope and the result is incredibly rewarding
Read Review
-
8.3
105713
8.3 |
Paste Magazine
A mix of raw-nerved personal reckoning and outward-looking, life-affirming anthems, Florence and the Machine’s follow-up to the chart-topping How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful soars just as high
Read Review
-
8.0
105670
8.0 |
PopMatters
High as Hope dials down Florence and the Machine's trademark theatrics to forge a vulnerable and visceral musical achievement
Read Review
-
8.0
105661
8.0 |
DIY
An album that takes solace in those closest to her, works to right previous wrongs, and sees her come out the other side a whole lot stronger
Read Review
-
8.0
105623
8.0 |
Exclaim
High As Hope is a welcome chapter in Florence + the Machine's career
Read Review
-
8.0
105624
8.0 |
The Line Of Best Fit
High As Hope is a confidently streamlined record, a project resplendent in its completeness with just ten tracks
Read Review
-
8.0
105738
8.0 |
Q
There is something new to her voice - it never gets lost on the moors, instead finding a new muscularity to haul itself back in. Print edition only
-
8.0
105755
8.0 |
The Independent
Florence Welch looks back on her youth with a mix of fondness and regret, and takes as stripped-back an approach as seems possible
Read Review
-
8.0
105693
8.0 |
musicOMH
If this new, compact, less overblown Machine shows what Florence Welch is capable of, may it run for another 10 years
Read Review
-
7.8
106054
7.8 |
Earbuddy
More intimate, but the songs don't suffer because of it
Read Review
-
7.5
106217
7.5 |
Under The Radar
This is a deep well of an album that demands repeated listens—the subtleties and intricacies revealing themselves satisfyingly and sometimes inspiringly as time goes on
Read Review
-
7.5
105684
7.5 |
A.V. Club
Musically, High As Hope isn’t too far off from the operatic orchestration of her earlier work, which is the most frustrating thing about it
Read Review
-
7.0
105672
7.0 |
Rolling Stone
Florence Welch drops confessional truth bombs all over an ambitious, experimental LP
Read Review
-
7.0
105734
7.0 |
The 405
It finds beauty in complex subtly allowing Florence’s vocals and by extension her personality to shine through more than it has before
Read Review
-
7.0
105812
7.0 |
No Ripcord
Welch’s voice exudes confidence and barely allows herself to take a pause that lasts more than a beat. It’s breathless and jolts around on a whim, just as all great Florence and the Machine songs do
Read Review
-
7.0
105935
7.0 |
Spectrum Culture
Undoubtedly the saddest record to come out of the Machine camp, and Welch owns it with that flamethrower emotional power
Read Review
-
6.7
105673
6.7 |
Consequence Of Sound
The only limits on Welch's talent are the risks she sometimes fails to take
Read Review
-
6.0
105689
6.0 |
The Observer
Her elemental themes and gale-force delivery remain but Florence Welch now seems to be settling for a little calm
Read Review
-
6.0
105625
6.0 |
Slant Magazine
The album eschews guitar rock-oriented maximalism and soaring catharsis in favor of quieter orchestral moments
Read Review
-
6.0
105626
6.0 |
Mojo
High As Hope often feels like The Greatest Showman for people of drinking age, This Is Me for art students - an affirmation, not a challenge. Print edition only
-
6.0
105629
6.0 |
The Guardian
Florence Welch’s fourth album is most powerful when focused on the small, telling details of encroaching adulthood
Read Review
-
6.0
105642
6.0 |
The Arts Desk
From her Grandmother’s suicide to a difficult sibling relationship and an adolescent eating disorder, it’s hardly the stuff for pop hooks
Read Review
-
6.0
105648
6.0 |
NME
Stripped of excess, Flo's truth shines on the safe but subtle album number four
Read Review
-
6.0
105664
6.0 |
Crack
There’s still the occasional lapse back into the shouty Florence of old – see lead single Hunger – and sixth-form poet Florence too, especially on the asinine Sky Full of Song. For the most part, though, High as Hope is endearingly human
Read Review
-
6.0
105653
6.0 |
The Irish Times
A solid collection rather than a gripping or inspirational one
Read Review
-
5.8
105708
5.8 |
Pretty Much Amazing
Ultimately, there would be more to say if High as Hope, and the rest of the band’s discography, didn’t already lay it out for you
Read Review
-
5.7
105724
5.7 |
Pitchfork
Another relatively stripped-down album featuring the titanic voice of Florence Welch is troubled by its overwhelmingly beige production
Read Review
-