If you are having trouble getting into the music of Florence + The Machine, you still have time before the 2022 album! The band’s fifth album shows up after four years of absence (except for the occasional non-album single), but as of this year, new music has flooded into streaming services with the usual aplomb. Here are some entry points to Florence Welch’s music!
Singer and leader of the band Florence Welch announces her power and grace with full commitment on track #1, album #1 (Lungs). Her emotive range and the band’s dynamic abilities are the main draws of Florence + The Machine, and “Dogs Days Are Over” displays them as good or better than any other song.
Gothic horror abounds in the lyrics, but “Howl” is rousing and buoyantly produced thanks to the help of Paul Epworth, known better for his work with Adele (he also produced one of the three most popular songs from the first album, “Cosmic Love”).
Showcasing the epic sweeping sound that would make up the crux of the following record, Ceremonials, “Cosmic Love” has another standout vocal performance that builds throughout the song.
The final track of the original version of the first album is a fan favorite, which demonstrates intricate band arrangements with all five members interweaving in a mesh of vocals, drumming, piano, guitar, and the infamous harp.
The leading track of the second album, “Shake It Out' represents the template for all future hit Florence songs. This is the anthemic height of this English band.
When you start looking too hard at Welch’s lyrics, you start to see some intimate themes of difficulties in life, but she also has a penchant for analogies using horror (“Howl”) and water. “Never Let Me Go” used that theme most prominently, as did “What The Water Gave Me” and “Ship To Wreck.”
Though the remix version by Calvin Harris “Spectrum (Say My Name)” was released as a single, the original version fuses genres in another enthusiastic contribution to Ceremonials.
Like the previous two “water” songs, “Ship To Wreck” was featured on one of three 2022 compilations from Florence + The Machine. This one was titled Water To Drink Not Write About, a clear jest about Welch’s prevalent water analogies.
This cover of the Ben E. King classic was featured on Songs From Final Fantasy XV with two other new Florence recordings in 2016. Performed respectfully in the band’s signature style, “Stand By Me” is an easy entry point into the extensive list of Florence + The Machine music extending beyond the four albums.
The biggest hit from the last album, High As Hope, details a look into Welch’s ongoing struggles with anxiety, depression, and addiction. It’s a vivid, vital later track from this great band.
The new album, Dance Fever, unveils fully on May 13th, 2022.