1

How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is the third studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 29 May 2015, by Island Records. After returning from her year-long hiatus from music, lead vocalist Florence Welch returned to configure How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, recording material that dealt with personal conflicts and struggles. In comparison to their last two studio albums, the album is much more refined and stripped-down instrumentally, and incorporates a mixture of musical influences such as folk, blues and gospel. How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful was met with positive reviews from music critics, who commended the album for its cohesion, production and Welch's vocal delivery. Additionally, it appeared on several year-end critics' lists. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 68,788 copies sold in its first week, becoming the band's third consecutive number-one album. Four singles were released from the album, "What Kind of Man", "Ship to Wreck", "Queen of Peace" and "Delilah". The album earned the band five Grammy Award nominations, in addition to being shortlisted for the 2015 Mercury Prize.