This year’s ceremony was a night of celebration for the likes of Adele, Bruno Mars, and Blur. The BRIT Awards 2012 took place on Tuesday, February 21, at London’s O2 Arena, with James Corden returning to host the music ceremony for the second year in a row.

Going into the evening, Blur and Emeli Sandé had the most reason to celebrate since they had already been confirmed as the recipients of the Outstanding Contribution to Music and the Critics’ Choice awards, respectively. Blur followed in the footsteps of such honorees as Freddie Mercury, Sting, and U2, while Sandé’s joined the ranks of Adele, Florence + the Machine, Jessie J, and Ellie Goulding, all of whom began their career with the Critics’ Choice acknowledgement.

Coldplay, Florence + the Machine, and Olly Murs were the night’s early performers, while the ceremony was interspersed with slightly more sombre moments as video tributes were paid to BRIT winners, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston, who both passed away in recent months. Ed Sheeran took home the award for Best British Male Solo Artist, and special note was paid to his social media following (including 1.4 million Twitter followers) who were cited as being instrumental in his breakout industry success.

Winner of the Best British Group award was Coldpay, who had previously won the title in 2001 and 2003. In total, the band has taken home seven BRIT Awards during their 16-year career. In their acceptance speech, the band members thanked the “discerning, handsome, intelligent Radio 2 voters” who were responsible for deciding who would win the award.

Adele, meanwhile, was the recipient of the evening’s first award – Best British Female Solo Artist – before a surprise loss to One Direction for Best British Single, a category she had been expected to win with her smash-hit song ‘Someone Like You’. However, the 23-year-old artist took to the stage and wowed the crowd with a performance of ‘Rolling in the Deep’ which cemented her return to the music scene after spending the end of 2011 and the beginning of 2012 away from the spotlight as she recovered from throat surgery.

Foo Fighters took home the award for Best International Group, but were not present at the ceremony, instead sending a pre-taped video message. Their absence was hardly felt, though, as Ed Sheeran was there to accept his win for Best British Breakthrough Act – beating the likes of Emeli Sandé and Jessie J – and Bruno Mars performed a Rat Pack-esque version of ‘Just the Way You Are’.

New York-based Lana Del Rey, who calls herself “the gangsta Nancy Sinatra”, won Best International Breakthrough Act and thanked the UK for embracing her music this year. Her solemn, teary-eyed acceptance was immediately forgotten as Rhianna provided the night’s most energetic performance, thanks to dozens of dancers who entertained with ‘We Found Love’, Rhianna’s chart-topping collaboration with Calvin Harris.

An interesting feature of the BRITs this year was an individual breakdown of each of the Best British Album nominees, where the likes of Adele and Florence Welch were able to explain the personal significance of their records in pre-taped segments.

Adele returned to the stage one final time to accept the night’s biggest award – Best British Album – but her speech was cut short by host James Corden in order to make time for Blur’s final performance.

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Wedding-style organ notes fade in, echoed chords slowly infiltrate and the dulcet tones of Miss Welch begin for what can only be the starter track of the new Florence and the Machine album, “Ceremonials.” The second album after the storming success of 2009’s “Lungs” is no disappointment, barging its way into the UK album chart at number one and shuffling its nose into the Top Ten in the US chart.

It seems the only way is up for the redhead and her roadies; starting a national tour on March 2, they will be rocking stages with their new sound at Dublin’s O2 Arena, through Bournemouth, Cardiff, Nottingham, London, Glasgow, Manchester, and finishing at Newcastle’s Metro Arena March 16.

Speculation about the band’s tour may not be isolated to the music, though: questions of what outfits she may wear onstage will undoubtedly paint headlines in the papers. Something of a London ‘it’ Girl, much focus has been on Florence’s indie-hippy persona, inventive clothing and, of course, fantastic flaming hair.

She is in the company of many successful Brit artists of late such as Adele, both of whom find their careers rocketing in the US, and their appearances scrutinized in magazines. Florence, however, seems to regard the matter with little interest: “It’s not inner turmoil. It’s total escapism. I’m not wrestling with my emotions. It’s a dress,” she said.

The singer has previously declared she is not interested in that side of her career: “I already feel like mine is planned out for the next two years, so I don’t think I’d like to get anymore famous!”

What remains is the music. Facades aside, what we have left is a truly soulful album. While “Shake It Out,” a lead track from the album released a few weeks ago, may have been a more obvious and go-getting start, what is chosen instead is the more subtle and vocal-based “Only If For a Night.” It is one of the more gothic and mournful songs, which, although a slow-burner, particularly for new fans, generates a feeling of familiarity.

While criticized for multi-tracking on vocals in many, if not most, of the tracks, this new sound creates an almost tribal-like feel, as in “What the Water Gave Me,” released over the summer. It is also in these songs that we hear the much examined similarity to Kate Bush: the warbling trills and mordents that somehow complement the unique mesh of harps, bells, organs, guitars and drums to create that atmospheric sound specific to the Brit indie group.

The more radio-friendly tracks also make an appearance, such as “Heartlines,” with a return of the tambourine beat we all love and mood-lifting choruses you know you will find yourself belting alongside to, regardless of whether or not you know the lyrics. Tickets for the 2012 tour will be on sale November 25.

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Florence and The Machine’s producer Paul Epworth revealed through Twitter that the upcoming follow up album to Florence and The Machine’s 2009 debut Lungs, has no “weak tracks”.

The tweeted message exposed that the album songs were finished and they were currently with the record label, which is in charge of choosing which songs will be picked and  included on the album.

Epworth said: “Had a week of wonderful mixes coming in for Florence 2. I love handing something over to hear it come back better. I feel for the a&r dept having to try and whittle these tracks down to 10 or 12 because there really are no weak ones. It’s a weird record that sounds live in ways and like a machine in others, with sensitivity and power from both the music and Flo’s voice.”

Epworth had already given previous comments  about the album production with Florence Welch in London’s Abbey Road Studios, when he spoke to BBC 6 Music in June. Referring about the sounds of the new album, he commented: “It’s going to be more stripped down, but it’s heavy, rhythmically. It’s a much heavier record than the first album.”

He also added how Welch is experiencing different music fields and styles, going from ” Less indie and lot more soulful.”

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