Sunday 30 November 2008

New Music: Florence And The Machine



The time has come for critics across the land to start unveiling their hot tips for 2009. One of the most popular choices, and rightly so, is loveable London-based quirky collective, Florence And The Machine.

Florence Welch - the integral cog in the utterly compelling and slightly cockamamie musical machine - is like a younger Kate Bush and a much less annoying Kate Nash, replete with a big voice, and a devilishly dotty mindset.

Kiss With A Fist, a firm favourite of Helen Of Troy..., is a brazen anthemic diatribe exploring the hard-hitting truth of destructive relationships, set to a punchy lo-fi indie-pop sound.

Latest single, Dog Days Are Over, is a stunning climatic delight. Featuring an intricate acoustic intro accompanied by Welch's haunting vocals, it steadily builds into a stunning Northern Soul-ish crescendo. If you're yet to hear it, we posted the awesome video here last week.

Let's hope FATM's dog days are over, and next year sees them turn into a well-oiled machine, churning out hit after hit after hit.


www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachinemusic

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Have you heard her cover of Beirut's 'Postcards From Italy'? It's utterly marvellous.

Helen of... said...

No :( I'll have to hunt it down imminently. They are so hermazing!
L
x

Anonymous said...

It's a pretty straight forward cover, which is good as it is one of the most beautiful songs ever, but her voice is just INCREDIBLE.

I trust you'll be treating us to some Florence at the next Helen Of Troy.

Anonymous said...

The two songs that I've heard are both well crafted pop songs. However my first and continuing reaction to "Kiss with a fist" is that it is ill considered and easily open to misinterpretation.

That sort of conceit about using violence to represent strong emotions might have worked in an arty 60s French film. Real life isn’t really so fuzzy. What happens is that the man nearly always batters the women a lot more forcefully than she strikes him. The lyricist might have been trying to get over a subtle message but 3 minute pop songs are not a good medium for nuance.

Helen of... said...

I've had a little read of this article and think it's probably best to let Florence defend herself. She wrote this on her MySpace...

'Kiss with a fist is NOT a song about domestic violence.

it is about two people pushing each other to phsycological extremes because they love each other.
the song is not about one person being attacked, or any actual physical violence, there are no victims in this song.
sometimes the love two people have for each other is a destructive force. but they cant have it any other way,
because its what holds them together, they enjoy the drama and pushing each others buttons.
the only way to express these extreme emotions is with extreme imagery, all of which is fantasism and nothing in the song is based on reality.

leona lewis's bleeding love isn't actually about her bleeding.
this isnt really about punching someone in the face. thank you and goodnight.'


Let us know if you think Florence's defence is valid.

Marie-Claire
xxxxx

Helen of... said...

Thom - we'll be playing both Kiss With A Fist and Dog Days are over. MC and I were gonna ask yourself Greg if you wouldn't mind sending your playlists over, just so we can avoid any crossovers. Would that be OK? Oh, and have you heard Hospital Beds? FATM's cover of the Cold War Kids song? Stunning!
Lyndsey
xx