THE LATEST UPDATES
Take a look below for all the latest news, features, interviews, photos and more
Florence covers the Observer Magazine
Florence features on the cover of the Observer Magazine
Lillie Eiger photographs Florence Welch for the cover of the Observer Magazine.
You can read the full article here:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/may/15/florence-welch-machine-dance-fever-interview?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
Dance Fever released - the fall-out
A brief summary of the charting and industry performance since Dance Fever's release.
Dance Fever arrived with a bang on the 13th May, received with universal critical acclaim with a score (to date) of 85/100 on Metacritic.
Charting at number 1 in the UK album chart (Florence + the Machine's 4th), number 2 in a range of other countries including Australia, Germany and Ireland, and number 7 in the US Billboard charts; it makes Florence the only female rock artist to have had four consecutive US number 1 albums in the US. Rock and roll has certainly resurrected in their image!
Speaking to the Official Charts Company, Florence expresses "I’m so grateful and moved to be Number 1 in the UK. There were so many moments when I nearly gave up on this record. When it seemed impossible that it would ever get done. So to have it out in the world and be so embraced is an incredible feeling. Sending so much love and thanks to everyone."
Florence also commented to BBC's Jo Wiley, that she does not take it for granted that despite being in the industry for 13 years, people still embrace the music she produces, which surprises her given it is not a mainstream sound.
![Florence features in Rolling Stone Magazine [Gallery]](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5cae446dda0f6000019a5769/1652131111400-OYVBVDZFOQJW8HBDBXAB/RS-FLORENCE-002-819x1024.jpg)
Florence features in Rolling Stone Magazine [Gallery]
Florence Welch features in Rolling Stone Magazine, talking all from anxiety to her new album Dance Fever.
Florence Welch bears all for her cover story of the Rolling Stone Magazine. Speaking to Tara Joshi, Florence talks motherhood, her songs being both daemons and children, and gives us some inside knowledge on the process of writing and recording for Dance Fever during the pandemic.
You can read the full interview here, and see the gallery of photos taken by Ruth Ossai below.
Gucci Bloom - The Awakening [Gallery]
Florence Welch features in the new Gucci Bloom 2022 campaign. Gallery.
Photos by Annie Lai
New single ‘Free’ released
Check out the new single Free, along with the music video, taken from Dance Fever and directed by Autumn De Wilde
Following the epic return of Florence and the Machine to the live scene over the last week, the band have released their fourth single from ‘Dance Fever’, ‘Free’.
It was initially debuted at the live shows, and now the studio version is accompanied by a music video starring Bill Nighy. Filmed in Ukraine by Autumn De Wilde, it aligns with the track by following Florence running and embracing her anxiety (played by Bill). Watch the video below:
Dance Fever's full tracklist announced
The full tracklist to Florence + the Machine’s 5th album Dance Fever has been revealed through a set of beautiful tarot cards.
In a equally gripping and aesthetically pleasing week, we now have the full tracklisting to Dance Fever.
The tracklist was revealed in triplets over the course of the last week, with the last set of tracks released exactly one month before Florence and the Machine's hotly anticipated 5th album is released. Each song was revealed through the turning of a tarot card. You can check out the tracklisting below in the image, or by following the link below.
1. KING
2. FREE
3. CHOREOMANIA
4. BACK IN TOWN
5. GIRLS AGAINST GOD
6. DREAM GIRL EVIL
7. PRAYER FACTORY
8. CASSANDRA
9. HEAVEN IS HERE
10. DAFFODIL
11. MY LOVE
12. RESTRAINT
13. THE BOMB
14. MORNING ELVIS
Florence + the Machine announce US + Canada leg of 'Dance Fever Tour'
Florence + the Machine announce the US and Canadian leg of their Dance Fever Tour.
Following hot on the heels of the UK, Ireland and Paris dates announced last week, the US and Canada now have their turn at the ‘Dance Fever Tour’!
Check out all the dates on the live section of our website, or the poster below.
There are some exciting opening acts, including BRIT-award winning Sam Fender, King Princess and Arlo Parks.
My Love - Music Video Analysis
Take a read on our thoughts around the ‘My Love’ music video - a dance song about the effects of COVID-19 and Florence’s music writing process.
This analysis piece comes after the epic release of Florence + the Machine’s second teaser single ‘Heaven Is Here’, followed closely by the lead single ‘My Love’.
For some context, ‘My Love’ is a song about writer’s block that Florence was experiencing prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, and then how the pandemic itself forced Florence into a state of isolation from both her music in her professional life, and from seeing her loved one in her personal life. This is reflected through Autumn De Wilde’s masterpiece music video, detailed below.
The video begins in a pre-pandemic scenario, with a still but intense few seconds of Florence breathing. This is a theme that runs through all of the videos so far. This may be used to symbolise intimacy and vulnerability, as well as isolation and aloneness, all of which are concepts that COVID-19 amplified in 2020.
Florence appears fearful, with back to her audience, almost as if she does not want to perform. She contorts her hands as if controlled by string; as if she is a puppet to the musical world. This reiterates the line from ‘King’ “dragged me by my hair and back on with the show”. Florence realises that she doesn’t have a choice - the show must go on. Notice that when Florence turns to face the audience, her composure and persona completely changes. Suddenly, her face is one of confidence, standing elegantly and commanding the stage. This scene may be to reflect that behind closed doors, just as highlighted in ‘King’, Florence feels vulnerable and fearful, but being on stage is a moment of catharsis, and also where she must display confidence to the world. Her band and audience sit motionless, like wax-work figures (just as in ‘King’). This may be to highlight that her subjects of writing (her music, her friends and her partner) are models; lifeless topics of interest about which she observes, reduce to lifeless beings, and writes about. It could also be that, as she meanders between these people, she is trying to decide where to put her love, but her inability to decide means she feels disconnected from them.
Then, suddenly, the audience is standing, gasping. This is the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, where the world watched in shock as events unfolded. Florence is panicking, trying to navigate the situation but she cannot gain control.
Florence is left alone now that the audience have been isolated from her, instead surrounded by her ‘lace children’ - her inner thoughts, demons, and support. They dance frantically around her as her thoughts race and panic. One by one, they succumb to the effects of her isolation, collapsing as they do, until Florence no longer has any to support her, and she too collapses.
What is left as a broken version of herself, attempting to navigate the situation in the dark; alone and isolated. She rises again, but as a changed person. We hear the breathing once again to highlight her aloneness and vulnerability, except this time it is away from the performance and the stage.
Also of note, and as pointed out by one of our admins Ariel, Florence’s dress deconstructs and thus becomes less extravagent as the ‘show’ proceeds. This is possibly a reference to her becoming more and more vulnerable (Florence has previously stated that she used clothes to hide her insecurities), and also how COVID-19 stripped her usual freedoms and outlets, including that of fashion.
What are your thoughts? We’d love to hear them below! We’re still trying to work out the significance of the young man, seen first in the King video and now helping her climb down from the stage and facing the other way from everyone else in the gasping scene. Let us know what you think.
Florence + the Machine announce new album 'Dance Fever' and lead single 'My Love'
Florence and the Machine announce new single My Love, and reveal album name and artwork 'Dance Fever’.
Today has been an exciting and busy day for Florence + the Machine Fans!
It has only been 2 days since the buzz-track ‘Heaven Is Here’ was released along with its music video, and today marked the announcement of the album name, artwork, as well as the lead single.
The 5th album is titled ‘Dance Fever’, likely named in ode to the dancing plague of 1518, where citizens danced uncontrollably in a state of mania, apparently infected with the urge, for 2 months. It is also likely a reference to the album being written during the COVID-19 pandemic, where a similar plague swept the world. It is co-produced by Jack Antonoff who also produced albums for Lorde and Taylor Swift.
The lead single, ‘My Love’, has also been announced for release at 8am GMT on 10th March 2022.
Take a look at the premiere and video here (shot by Autumn De Wilde, as have all previous videos from this era):
KING - Music video analysis
Our take on the meaning behind Florence + the Machine’s music video to King, directed by Autumn De Wilde.
As with most Florence + the Machine music videos, the hidden meanings can be dark, covert and cleverly peppered with meaning. In extension of our music video analysis from previous eras, here’s our take on the new ‘King’ music video from the band’s yet-titled fifth album.
To set the scene, Florence released a statement that the song itself is about the torn identities she feels between being a female wanting to start a family, and being a performer. She stated that gender was not something she had previously considered, until reaching her 30s and suddenly coming to the realisation that male performers didn’t have to consider this aspect of their lives as readily as female counterparts.
The video begins with her partner appearing frustrated, mirroring the opening line of having an argument about whether to have children. Florence looks on eerily, observing the situation. Her partner appears fearful of her retaliation against his thoughts, and even more so when her own power in the situation haunts him. At first, Florence appears almost angelic, bathed in light, as she confronts her partner on these tricky topics. However, in an attempt to prioritise her artistic life from her private one, Florence lures him and then kills the bond between the two, symbolised by breaking the neck of her partner. Note that the light changes from bright and optimistic, to dark. This has several points of significance. Firstly, associations between kings and beheadings is rife throughout history. Secondly, this moment shocks the viewer intentionally, as it may have shocked Florence during her realisation that her two identities were not compatible. Thirdly, in killing the male, Florence attempts to fully embrace her feminine identity (note, in contrast to the How Big era where Florence openly modelled her image on male performers). The change in setting may represent reality versus imagination, as well as perceived good versus destruction.
However, despite the killing of this male dominance/identity, Florence continues to drag it around. Her back is turned, but it weighs her down. Florence summons femininity from within, and surrounds herself with this (the female dancers). She levitates throughout, asserting her position as transcending her identity. Notice that when not tied to her male identity or her personal life, and embracing her female identity, Florence is grounded - free - bounding amongst them from outside the confines of the walls she was previously trapped within at the start of the video, into the vast outside world. The contrast of the stereotypically feminine colours and outfits is stark compared with the brutalist decaying concrete structures that they are set against, further highlighting the division between her two identities.
The video concludes by showing performers levitating along with her. Note the performers are all male, whilst her female support remains grounded. This may symbolise the physical division between her male and female identities, with Florence deciding when to ground with the female or rise to the male. However, it might also show that her performance identity is literally put on hold (suspended) because of the tensions she faces between embodying the normalised female role in society, and being a performer in a male-centric career. If she is active at the feminine level, the male (performer) level must freeze and vice versa.
In the end, Florence realises that she cannot artificially separate these identities from each other. Instead, she embraces her personal life and masculine identity and becomes one with this. However, this may also represent how her personal life helps feed her artistic one, as she literally appears to eat her partner.
As ever, we want to hear your thoughts! Please leave them in the comments and let’s get a discussion going!