New Florence + The Machine album, Dance Fever, May 10th

[H-O-W-L]

Three tracks already dropped. King is sort of... alright. Good, really, but not a stand-out Florence song for me. Heaven is Here is really good, bit short, but really good. And My Love is a full on banger. Proper excited for this album now.

Love these videos too. Great visuals and choreo from the female dancers around Florence. I love the genuine nature of it -- you can see some of them rushing to get on cue because they're lagging behind. They drop their dresses sometimes while dancing or hit themselves in the face by accident or start corpsing. Feels genuine and warm and makes me hope that they weren't worked to death like choreo dancers often are.

[thugler]

Probably my least favourite artist of the last decade or so. Something very drama school about the singer That gets on my nerves

[Twit 2]

Really dislike her wailing, overwrought voice.

[sevendaughters]

I knew King was going to finish ppp in a force 10 gale after 30 seconds. The middle one seems like a snippet, a bit Kate Bush but cleaned up. My Love is like a slightly bombastic Annie Lennox but I feel that the chorus/refrain is a bit of a letdown.

[The Mollusk]

Sorry HOWL but unfortunately I have to agree with much of the above. There's nowt wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve if you've got the gumption to back it up (see: Caribou and how much he pilfered from Arthur Russell for his brilliant albums Swim and Our Love) but that's where she consistently fails as an artist for me. There's obviously conviction in what she's doing but regardless it sounds terribly flat and soulless, owed largely to her forced warbling. It's well suited to being drenched in the echo of a huge space, beaming out over a festival crowd, but on record even after glossy studio production it just sounds so boring.

[Pauline Walnuts]

I still remember that Gastonbury live performance that was on the telly, I've never heard so many flat notes from a professional singeeerrrrrrrrr.


Is this thread now officially a pile on?

[PlanktonSideburns]

That lungs album is absolutely mint, not given anything else a go since then

Drums are a little dry (homer Simpson waving a baguette gif) - I liked her wailing when it was accompanied by someone twatting drums in a cave, but the little dainty crusty sounding drum patters on this are a bit underwhelming

As said above, if you can't get past your influences, you can always smash though them with maximalism, this is a bit Tori Aimless. Lovely dancing true, but there's plenty folks who are doing both at the moment, with Charli XCX and FKA Twigz making this look a bit mumsnet rock 

[The Mollusk]

I liked her wailing when it was accompanied by someone twatting drums in a cave

I think there's definitely a case to be made for her earlier stuff being better as it leans more into a less polished indie sound. You can forgive a less than perfect voice if it's surrounded by a racket, and I don't mean that insultingly, since 90s alt-rock was full of it and I adore that stuff. But there's nowhere to hide when your tunes are suddenly pristinely smoothed out.

[PlanktonSideburns]

I think there's definitely a case to be made for her earlier stuff being better as it leans more into a less polished indie sound. You can forgive a less than perfect voice if it's surrounded by a racket, and I don't mean that insultingly, since 90s alt-rock was full of it and I adore that stuff. But there's nowhere to hide when your tunes are suddenly pristinely smoothed out.

yea i got all the time in the world for 'bad' singing, - why suck all the humidity out of a room and get the guy from vulfpeck to record the drums on your album unless its going to be some sort of liftmusic nuggets thing, its boring

[SweetPomPom]

First 2 albums were the best, saw her a couple of times in the build up for the second album and she still had a really intimate sound and had the crowd eating out of her hand.
Felt like she lost that a bit on the 3rd album, was all a bit too full on.

[H-O-W-L]

Not sure why people here are apologizing to me here or there. I figured there'd be some narky comments since CAB has never seemed to like Florence. But you guys have been very well-behaved and while I'm a little upset the thread is mostly just like "Do We Need 'Em?" hosted by Karly Pilkoids, it's admittedly also not a shitshow so I'm not sent into an apoplectic rage like I usually post in on this forum.

I really like her music. Nothing's gonna change that, really. I had some crises of conscience, wondering if I was just eating up Shit for Cunts, but I think ultimately what I like about her music is not modified or changed or diminished by what you've said. Hopefully it shows I take that onboard anyway (perhaps unnecessarily) despite rejecting it that it gave me such a crisis of... ahem, faith.

I feel she lost it a lot by the third album (How Big) but the fourth (High as Hope) got it back again by winding down to a more pared-down and personal sound with some visceral and personal lyrics directly related to herself rather than starry-sky concepts.

I'm gonna spunk off about her but I think it's sort of clear that Florence is a very... damaged person? She's struggled artistically in a way that I feel is a bit more exposed and raw and direct in lyrics than many others. These new songs directly address how she has used music as a coping mechanism since becoming popular -- that music has ended up being a means to escape from the mundanity of life, and that quarantine burnt that all to the ground and made her go fucking mental. Especially since she self-admittedly went completely clean from both booze and drugs between HB3 and High as Hope.

Obviously I don't relate directly but there's fragments there I sympathize with. Elements of human suffering that I wrap myself around, not least because Florence has been there in my life since I was a teenager.

You might not like her but, to me, she's remained consistent since Ceremonials, which is, admittedly, different to Lungs, but-- well, it was formative, to me. I got into Florence 13 fuckin' years ago and she's still cutting singles that appeal to me. That's 12 years more than any other artist typically appeals to me, so, y'know. I have to give her credit for that. I usually only get into music that's 30+ years old, or I get into newish artists that are underground, they go overground, and I drop the cunt (Grimes/CHVRCHES/etc.)

Yeah, it's pop. Yeah it's made for livejournal girls. But I'm a livejournal girl with neon hair and a tummy full of Monster Energy at the end of the day. Not afraid or ashamed of that. Can't change wot you are.

Not only that but I listen to obscure Soundcloud VVITCH HOUSE. Couldnae give a fuck how this potentially reflects on my tastes because I know I have the ultimate bulletproof shield of "aye but I listen to music you need a unicode keyboard to name". I listen to shit that would make yer ears bleed, so I win by default. Cigs mate. Eggdillis 9.

[The Mollusk]

lol, solid post

I was apologetic because I don't want to feel like my (or anyone else's) negativity is dissuading anyone from posting here. As everyone probably knows, I'm stupidly precious about this subforum even though I don't post here as often nowadays and I'm always worried people will one day stop talking at length about individual artists or albums or songs they love, which is the most important type of expression to me (outside of having a nice glass of beer or a soul-melting orgasm).

Anyway I am glad you love her music and connect to it in such a deep and personal way. I love to read about other people's relationships with art even if I don't enjoy the stuff myself, there are occasions when I've been like "oh!" and suddenly or gradually come to understand and appreciate it more. Art is for sharing.

[chutnut]

Not only that but I listen to obscure Soundcloud VVITCH HOUSE.

But why is it called house?
I will never know

[Kankurette]

I feel you, Howl, I like a lot of musicians  CAB hates (and I'm a fellow Livejournal girl). I don't even have the obscure musicians defence. Although I think the Manics are fairly loved on here, and Sleater-Kinney before Carrie and Corin disappeared up their own holes. Not sure about Catatonia.

Really dislike her wailing, overwrought voice.

I would like her so much more if she didn't feel the need to over-enunciate every sodding word. Although I do love Blinding. Lungs has its moments.

[Jockice]

Something very drama school about the singer That gets on my nerves

That's exactly how I feel about PJ Harvey yet somehow she's managed to get and retain the credibility that Florence will never have.

I've more or less ignored Flo and her machines anyway. All I really know about her is that Candi Staton song that was absolutely everywhere for a while (I'm sure Q or suchlike proclaimed it single of the year. I mean come on, it wasn't even the best cover version of any year), a friend's much younger girlfriend who seemed to see me as a hip music guru telling me she'd bought the first album and expecting me to be impressed. I wasn't but that's because I hadn't heard it. She offered to make me a copy of it but didn't. And the tune to the chorus of one of her songs. Not even sure of the title though. Bridge To Cross or something like that.

So I'm not joining in the general slagging. She might be good, might not be. It's just her bad luck she happened to appear at the exact moment when I totally lost interest in listening to new music.

[Pauline Walnuts]

That's exactly how I feel about PJ Harvey yet somehow she's managed to get and retain the credibility that Florence will never have.

Her first couple of albums didn't. That's how.


Or did they, I know I was going to say it was unbelievably overrated Stories from the city that she started going all that 'I'm going to show you what I've learnt in my singing lessons', but maybe it all started on To Bring You My Love?

heck, maybe it was on Dry as well, I'm too scared to check now.

It's just her bad luck she happened to appear at the exact moment when I totally lost interest in listening to new music.

What's your username on the Steve Hoffman forum?

[Kankurette]

You've Got the Love isn't even the best song on the album. Girl With One Eye is the better cover.

[the science eel]

I'm surprised to see this thread. I thought nobody liked her.

Are you all fans of Texas too then?

[Kankurette]

Only Halo and Insane.

[Jockice]

I'm surprised to see this thread. I thought nobody liked her.

Are you all fans of Texas too then?

Not really but I have no objection to hearing anything by them. And Sharleen is from near my home town so I reckon we'd get on well if we ever met. Which we never will.

[Kankurette]

Some of us on here like mainstream music. Apologies. (Though I find Texas a bit bland.)

[Nice Relaxing Poo]

Her voice just fucking spears my ear drums no matter what. She has no subtlety or variety, it's just this honking goose aural sledgehammer all over everything. Yes, we know you can belt out a tune, can you just tone it down sometimes?

[badaids]

Her voice just fucking spears my ear drums no matter what. She has no subtlety or variety, it's just this honking goose aural sledgehammer all over everything. Yes, we know you can belt out a tune, can you just tone it down sometimes?

Yes, this.  I'm always interested in her work and tried very hard to give it a good chance, but the road always leads to the same place in my mind:  Toyah.

[kalowski]

She honks when she sings. I call them Honk and the Machine.
Ludicrous to compare to the brilliant Polly Jean Harvey.

[Pauline Walnuts]

You know there was a + machine when they started as a duo, Florence Leontine* Mary Welch & Isabella ''The Machine'' Summmers




That's my 'exciting' Florence + The Machine factoid, I don't even know if Isabella Summers is still with them.

*ooh how porsh

[Kankurette]

Yep, she was the keyboard player.

[Ascent]

I remember FATM were nominated for Best Female at the Brits a few years back. Felt very sorry for Isabella, I thought they were always a group.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

Is this the same machine that people were raging against?

[Goldentony]

THE SAME MACHINE WHO PLOTTED TO SURRENDER WEST POINT TO THE HATED BRITISH?

[H-O-W-L]

You know there was a + machine when they started as a duo, Florence Leontine* Mary Welch & Isabella ''The Machine'' Summmers




That's my 'exciting' Florence + The Machine factoid, I don't even know if Isabella Summers is still with them.

*ooh how porsh

She is still with them and IMO the songs that Isabella Summers was not involved in (IE most of How Big How Blue How Beautiful) are the absolute worst. I love FATM but frrrrrrankly, HB3 is wannabe-Adele shit half the time and WOW WHIZZ BANG CLANGOR the rest. I do just fucking love her fuck off loud yelling screaming songs, which most here have said they dislike, but HB3 goes too far and tries way too hard to basically be music for a medieval fantasy movie.

I really like High as Hope because a lot more of the songs are pared-down and personal. HB3 was the peak of commercialization within her canon, which is gonna sound nuts to everyone else, but it was the first album where Summers was completely shunted to the periphery and a new producer was involved with everything, and he basically made Florence throw out her original plan to make a concept album and instead convinced her to make an album full of songs that were basically disconnected, which were retro-fit into "The Odyssey", a music-video-movie project akin to The Wall but without the same sort of emotional compatibility. Even as a basically unshakable fan of FATM, The Odyssey was really a nothingburger despite being well-made and pretty and whatnot.

So HB3 suffered heavily because Florence's personal interest was clearly waned, and she was obviously struggling with her anxities and addiction at the time (to her own admission) and being handled by a complete outsider who just wanted to make manufactured baroquepop resulted in a very middling, overbloated album that is incredibly hard to sit through for me.

HAH, however, made up for that. It's a tight ten-song album, all of which are thematically consistent, clearly mean something personally to Florence and, as a result, mean something to me (and her fans). I've not read much into fandom stuff because fandoms of pop music like Florence are either completely insane people who would raid her dustbin, or idol-collectors who basically view human beings like soap opera, but from what I can gather, the opinion of HAH is that it very much was a return to form.

I'm not going to try to convert or evangelize any of you that don't like her music, but yeah, that's about the size of it. Albums 1-2: beloved. Album 3: Eegghh. Album 4: beloved. Album 5: Shaping up to be beloved.

Dance Fever seems to be shaping up to be a similar tightly-constructed, bang-bang-bang-yerdone album with personal connections to Florence rather than something cranked out for the marketing value like a lot of HB3 seems to be. It's also somewhat silly a notion to an outsider, but to me, the title is a sign it's genuinely a Florence-led album again; it's a joke/reference to the medieval dancing plagues, and Florence is well known in the fandom for being a fan of weird medieval facts and creepy folklore shit. Livejournal girl shit. Keep walking, baldies.