I've been wanting to type up this post since I got back. Mark my words, friends -- Florence Welsh and her band, The Machine, is the best new artist of 2009. Book it. Done. If she isn't in your hearts, minds and music device by the end of the year, then you need to re-examine your musical tastes.
I enjoyed the bits and pieces of songs I could get my hand on. When she introduced herself last year to the world with the frockling rock stomping single "Kiss With a Fist," I said Florence looked she went to the Kate Nash School of Fashion with her girlie floral dress. Fast forward to now, she looks like a porcelain goddess. More importantly, her music is much more than quick ditties about confrontational love. The two performances I saw last weekend showed that she's a major force making music that is larger than life and creating a sense of wonder and energy.
When I saw her opening set for Blur, I took to the music that is steeped in classical fantasy. She can paint pictures where she blends and bends musical styles that would make Kate Bush and Bat for Lashes jealous. Each song has a full, lush feeling that has a steady beat flowing through. Even though I was hearing songs like "Drumming" and "My Boy Builds Coffins" for the first time, I instantly knew that Florence has something to say, and she's going to do it by enchanting you.
Then when I saw her on Saturday at Hop Farm, where she's standing five feet from me, I noticed how she moves around the stage, as if the music is commanding her. It's not necessarily performance art, because between songs she cracks jokes and makes observations. She climbs on speakers, dances barefoot around in her flowing dress and strikes poses as if she's a work of art.
When I got home on Sunday, I put in the her debut CD, Lungs, into the hi-fi and let the sucker soundtrack my unpacking. When iPods can rip music from CDs without a computer, that would be a grand day. Anyway, the CD is a knockout. My impression is that it is never dull. Each song screams fortitude while keeping a sense of femininity. You have strings and keyboards swirling around her booming voice. "Dark Days Are Over" is a good represenation of the album. But, it's also interesting she kept the poppy Kiss With a Fist on the album.
The album comes out here in physical form on Rocktober 13 on Universal, and she'll won't do any dates until the Fall. I'm making it required listening for all. If it's not nominated for a Mercury Prize than something is wrong.
So like when I first caught acts like M.I.A., Tings Tings, The Nash, Guillemots and Adele early on their career, Florence and the Machine will make a lot of people happy when they catch on. As with any good music snob will tell you -- listening to an artist before they hit the masses is the cornerstone of music snobbery. Love her now, love her forever.
The pictures from her set at Hop Farm turned out fantastically.
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