Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine
Florence and the Machine performing at 1-2-3-4 Shoreditch
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Indie pop Alternative
Years active	2007–present
Label(s)	Island Records
Associated acts	Lightspeed Champion and Noah and the Whale
Website	florenceandthemachine.net/
Members
Florence Welch Robert Ackroyd Christopher Lloyd Hayden Isabella Summers Tom Monger
Former members
Devonte Hynes

Florence and the Machine (stylized as Florence + The Machine on the album "Lungs") is the recording name of Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her voice.^[1] Musically Florence and the Machine's sound is generally referred to as soul inspired indie. Florence and The Machine's music has received praise across the British music media, especially from the BBC who have played a large part in Florence and The Machine's rise to prominence by bringing them into the spotlight as part of BBC Introducing.^[2] This has led to her playing Glastonbury as well as Reading and Leeds festivals. The band's debut album, Lungs, was released on 6th July 2009. The band's debut single was "Kiss with a Fist". The follow up single "Dog Days are Over" was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo".^[3] "You've Got the Love" was released as the third single and "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was released as the fourth, which became their highest charting single at 12 in the UK. Their debut album Lungs was released on 6 July 2009 and is set to enter the top 3 albums in the UK.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Florence Welch 1.2 The Machine 2 Touring 3 Critical Acclaim 4 Awards 5 Discography 5.1 Studio albums 5.2 EPs 5.3 Singles 6 External links 7 References

Background

Florence Welch

As a small girl Welch sang to her grandmother and in the school choir. She would dance on top of a wooden chest belonging to her father, that contained all his vinyl records by artists such as Love, The Incredible String Band, The Smiths and The Velvet Underground. Welch's mother liked Tom Jones and The Monkees and Welch says her singing style resulted from listening to a combination of these acts. ^[4] She also grew up listening to The White Stripes and Kate Bush. ^[3] She started performing at family weddings and funerals ('mainly funerals') at the age of 7 and persuaded her parents to let her have singing lessons at the age of 11.^[5]

In school Welch was labelled as dyslexic and dyspraxic.^[5]

While attending Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London an exclusive private school ^[6] Welch was in a punk "musical collective" entitled The Toxic Cockroaches.^[7]

Welch attended Camberwell College of Art where she "did Foundation Art and got in to do illustration".^[7] She attended concerts by art college bands. These gigs would influence the "more outrageous" side of Florence and The Machine's performances. She left Camberwell after a year and a half to pursue her professional music career. ^[5] One punk band that heavily influenced her "more outrageous" side were 'The Ludes'. Welch dated a member of the band and later went on to write a song about him (My Boy Builds Coffins). Florence also covers a song by The Ludes on her album entitled 'Girl with One Eye'.

Welch says she writes metaphorical songs that are "stories with consequences and weird morality issues," She gets her material from a variety of sources and experiences.^[4][7] Dog Days Are Over was inspired by an art installation , Kiss With A Fist is about "giving as good as you get.”^[8] It is not based on domestic violence, as so commonly thought, but is based on a couple Welch once knew, who had a rough relationship which they thrived on.

Welch, a self described "real geek", is an avid book reader who likes to completely lose herself in weekend "adventures".^[3] As of December 2008 she lived in the Camberwell neighbourhood in South London where she was brought up.

The Machine

The Machine is Florence's backing band and consists of several musicians, which previously included Devonte Hynes from Lightspeed Champion.^[9] The current line-up consists of Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums), Isabella Summers (keyboards) and Tom Monger (harp). ^[10]

Florence and the Machine are managed by Mairead Nash who is one half of the DJ outfit Queens of Noize. Nash decided to manage the group when at one of Nash's club nights an inebriated Welch dragged Nash into the toilet cubicles and sang an Etta James song to her. ^[8]

Touring

Florence and The Machine burst onto the London scene playing a handful of gigs in and around London for the likes of The Lock Tavern, Blue Flowers and Filthy Few.^[11] Florence often filled in for bands who did not turn up for their set, and would accapella with other guitarists from other bands.

Florence and The Machine were part of the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards tour. Welch said that she planned a "pretty theatrical" performance. Welch planned to bring "as many weird clothes" as possible with the idea of deciding what to wear before going on stage.^[7]. They supported White Lies, Friendly Fires and Glasvegas on the tour.

The group also performed at 2009 Glastonbury Festival, and are set to play at Reading and Leeds festival and the T in the Park festival.^[12][13] They have also been confirmed in the lineup for the world renowned Irish music festival OXYGEN 2009 which kicks off on the 10th of July 2009.

The group also played The Concerts for Teenage Cancer Trust charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2009.^[14]. Florence and The Machine supported Blur for their 26 June comeback performance at the MEN Arena in Manchester ^[15] as well as at their Hyde Park performance on 3rd July. It has also been confirmed that they will be playing at the Lovebox festival this July 18th and 19th.

Florence and the Machine are touring the UK in September 2009 visiting the O2 Academy in Bristol, The Opera House in Bournemouth, the O2 Academy in Birmingham, the O2 Academy Leeds, The Glasgow ABC, the O2 Academy in Newcastle, Manchester University, and three nights at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

Critical Acclaim

On top of the BBC praise they have received a large amount of support from NME magazine who included them in their annual NME Awards Tour for 2009.^[16] Florence collected the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards in February 2009, an award which focuses on new talent and is voted for by a panel of music industry experts.^[17] Florence and the Machine came third in the BBC's Sound of 2009.^[18]

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Result
2009	Brit Awards	Critic's Choice Award	Won

Discography

Studio albums

Year	Album	Peak chart positions		Sales
		UK	Ireland
2009	Lungs Released: 6 July 2009 Island Records	—	—	UK: —

EPs

• A Lot of Love A Lot of Blood (28 April 2009, 12") ^[19]

Singles

• Kiss With A Fist (9 June 2008, digital download and 7") UK #51
• Dog Days Are Over (1 December 2008, digital download and 7") UK #89
• You've Got The Love (5 January 2009, digital download) UK #158
• Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up) (22 June 2009, digital download and 7") UK #12 [1]

External links

• NME Artists page
• myspace

References

v • d • e Florence and the Machine Albums Lungs Singles "Kiss With A Fist" • "Dog Days Are Over" • "You've Got The Love" • "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)"