Florence Welch
Florence Welch while performing an act with "Florence + The Machine" at the Melkweg in Amsterdam
Background information
Birth name	Florence Leontine Mary Welch
Born	(1986-08-28) 28 August 1986 (age 25) Camberwell, London, England, UK
Genres	Indie rock, indie pop, baroque pop, psychedelic rock, soul, art rock
Occupations	Musician, singer, songwriter, arranger
Instruments	Vocals, piano, drums, auto-harp, guitar
Years active	2007–present
Labels	Island
Associated acts	Florence and the Machine, Dizzee Rascal
Notable instruments
Florence Welch's Autograph

Florence Leontine Mary Welch^[1] (born 28 August 1986)^[2][3][4] is an English musician, singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer of Florence and the Machine.

[edit] Life and career

Born in Camberwell, Florence is the niece of the satirist Craig Brown.^[5] and granddaughter of former deputy editor of The Daily Telegraph and former Daily Mail parliamentary sketchwriter Colin Welch.^[6] She is the daughter of Evelyn Welch, a Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean of Arts at Queen Mary, University of London,^[7] and Nick Welch, an advertising executive.^[5]Her father Nick contributed a "rock and roll element to the family mix"; in his 20s he used to live in a West End squat and attended the Squatters' Ball organised by Heathcote Williams where The 101ers played regularly.^[8] A self-confessed "frustrated performer", if Nick, as he put it, "nudged Flo in any way, it's only been to listen to the Ramones rather than Green Day".^[8] Evelyn had an equally strong yet completely different influence on her daughter. A visit to one of her mother's lectures left teenage Florence deeply impressed. She explained, "I aspire to something like that but with music. I hope that my music has some of the big themes—sex, death, love, violence—that will still be part of the human story in 200 years' time."^[8]

Florence was educated at Thomas's London Day School then went onto Alleyn's School, South East London, where she did well academically.^[1] Welch often got in trouble in school for impromptu singing.^[1] Welch has been diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia.^[9] Following her meteoric rise to fame, she suffered a bout of depression.^[10] Upon leaving school, Florence studied at Camberwell College of Arts before dropping out to focus on her music.^[1] Welch's fascination with terror and doom was intensified by the death of her grandparents within a few years of each other. At the age of 10 Welch witnessed her grandfather's deterioration, and her maternal grandmother, also an art historian, committed suicide when Welch was 14.^[1] When Welch was 13 years old, she and her mother moved in with their next door neighbour and his three teenage children. According to Welch: "We get on brilliantly now, but it was a nightmare then. I just used to stay in my room and dance around."^[11]

When discussing her fashion style, Welch said that, "For the stage, it's The Lady of Shalott meets Ophelia...mixed with scary gothic bat lady. But in real life I'm kind of prim."^[12]

Welch has become noticed for her red curls (though she is actually a natural brunette^[13][14]) and a style that has been described as daring but nonchalant. As a teenager she read fashion magazines more often than music magazines. Early in her music career she dressed in a tomboy style. 2011 saw Gucci dressing her for her summer tour and a performance at the Chanel runway show at Paris Fashion Week. Welch describes 1970s American drag queen troupe Cockettes and French beatnik singer Françoise Hardy as fashion mentors.^[15] Welch has also named Fleetwood Mac pop/rock singer Stevie Nicks as a musical, fashion, and general influence. A Huffington Post entertainment article quotes her as telling a reporter that "I'm pretty obsessed with Stevie Nicks from her style to her voice. I like watching her on YouTube and her old performances, the way she moves and everything." Welch can sometimes be seen in concert paying homage to Nicks' famous billowing and gypsy stage dress.^[16]

Welch had a long term relationship with a literary editor, Stuart Hammond, from 2008. Their temporary split provided inspiration for much of the Lungs album.^[17] Welch says, "He prefers me not to talk about it. It's funny then singing about it.".^[18] In 2011 the couple broke up by mutual decision because of conflicting career demands, and the breakup provided material for Florence and The Machine's second album.^[19]

[edit] Music career

[edit] Early years

According to Welch, "The name Florence and the Machines started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought 'Okay, I'll be Florence Robot/Isa Machine', before realising that name was so long it'd drive me mad."^[1][20] In 2006, Welch's performances with Summers in small London venues under the joint name Florence Robot/Isa Machine began to attract notice.^{[citation needed]}

In 2007, Welch recorded with a band named Ashok, who released an album titled Plans on the Filthy Lucre/About Records label. This album included the earliest version of her later hit "Kiss with a Fist", which at this point was titled "Happy Slap".^[21] She signed a contract for Ashok with a manager, but feeling that she was "in the wrong band" she resigned, which cancelled the contract.^[1] Florence and the Machine is managed by Mairead Nash (one half of the DJ duo Queens of Noize), who decided to manage the singer when an inebriated Welch followed Nash into the toilets at a club^[1][9] and sang Etta James' 1962 song "Something's Got a Hold on Me".^[5]

[edit] 2008–10: Lungs

Florence and the Machine released their debut album Lungs in the United Kingdom on 6 July 2009. The album was officially launched with a set at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, South East London. It peaked at number one in the UK and number two in Ireland. As of 6 August 2009, the album had sold over 100,000 copies in the UK and by 10 August it had been at number two for five consecutive weeks.^[18][22] Following its 25 July 2009 release for download in the United States, the album debuted at number seventeen on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart,^[23] ultimately peaking at number one.^[24] The album was released physically in the US on 20 October by Universal Republic.^[25] The album was produced by James Ford, Paul Epworth, Steve Mackey and Charlie Hugall.^[26]

"Kiss with a Fist" was released as the album's lead single on 9 June 2008. The track was featured on the soundtrack to the films Wild Child,^[27] Jennifer's Body,^[28] and St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritton's Gold,^[29] as well as in the television seriesThe Vampire Diaries, 90210 and Saving Grace.^[30][31] It was also featured as the theme song for the David Ives' play Venus in Fur. Follow-up single "Dog Days Are Over", released on 1 December 2008, was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo".^[32] The song was used in the American television series Gossip Girl,^[33] Community^[34] and Covert Affairs,^[35] in the British television series Skins,^[36] and in the theatrical trailer for the 2010 comedy-drama film Eat Pray Love, starring Julia Roberts.^[37] "Dog Days Are Over" was also featured in the Glee episode "Special Education", where it was covered by Jenna Ushkowitz and Amber Riley.^[38] "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" was released on 22 June 2009 as the third single from the album. Part of the song's melody, as well as the lyric "How quickly the glamour fades", were lifted from New York band Gang Gang Dance's 2008 song "House Jam" without credit on the Lungs liner notes. Members of group noticed this and brought it to the attention of Florence and the Machine's label. Island Records acknowledged infringement and agreed to pay Gang Gang Dance a share of the song's publishing royalties. Welch agreed that she erred and said her intent was to pay homage.^[39][40]

After the release of Lungs, "Drumming Song" and a cover of The Source and Candi Staton's 1986 song "You've Got the Love" were released as singles,^[41][42] the latter of which also went on to become part of a mashup titled "You Got the Dirtee Love" between Welch and English rapper Dizzee Rascal. The two performed the mashup together at the 2010 BRIT Awards on 16 February 2010 and the recorded performance was subsequently released as a single the following day.^[43][44]

Florence singing at the Berkeley Greek Theater on the Lungs Tour 2011.

On 11 April 2010 "Dog Days Are Over" was re-released digitally and on 7" vinyl the following day, coinciding with the release of a brand-new video.^[45] "Cosmic Love" was released on 5 July 2010 as the sixth and final single from Lungs, with a music video having already been shot.^[46] The song was featured in several American television shows, including Grey's Anatomy,^[47] The Vampire Diaries,^[48] V,^[49] Nikita^[50] and So You Think You Can Dance.^[51] The band also made a guest appearance in the 7 February 2011 episode of Gossip Girl, titled "Panic Roommate", where they performed an acoustic rendition of "Cosmic Love".^[52] On 12 May 2010, Florence and the Machine provided a track called "Heavy in Your Arms" for the soundtrack to The Twilight Saga: Eclipse^[53] that was played during the end credits. The music video followed on 7 July 2010.^[54]

[edit] 2010–present: Ceremonials

Welch contributed vocals to David Byrne and Fatboy Slim's 2010 album Here Lies Love, an album about Imelda Marcos.^[55]

At the beginning of 2010, early in the stages of writing the new F+M album, Welch was approached by her label with an offer to go to Los Angeles and work with US producers and writers of American Pop music. At first she found the offer tantalizing, saying, "I love big, American pop music. I'm a total sucker for it." She thought she could put her own stamp on that style of music. After she looked at the diary sent to her she changed her mind saying to herself "'No. No. No. No. No! I can't do that. This is too weird. I can't just suddenly leave behind everything that made 'Lungs'".^[56]

The first demo session occurred in January 2010 with Welch and Paul Epworth at a small London Studio. Numerous producers wanted to work with her but Welch rejected the offers because she wanted Ceremonials to be a better version of Lungs with a "more dark, more heavy, bigger drum sounds, bigger bass, but with more of a whole sound". For the rest of the year work on the album continued only intermittently because Lungs became popular in the United States requiring extensive touring. No Light, No Light. was recorded on an all night tour bus in Amsterdam with Isabella "Machine" Summers.^[56]

As of January 2011, Welch was working with Drake on material slated for his upcoming record.^[57]

Most of the writing for Ceremonials was done between January and April 2011 with recording taking place throughout April at Abbey Road Studios. Refinement took place at Epworth's own London studios while Welch recorded vocal tracks during days off from touring at various U.S. studios. The final recording session took place in July at Epworth's studio.^[56]

Epworth co-wrote seven tracks. Several other British writers share credits on the album, including Summers, Kid Harpoon, James Ford and composer Eg White.^[56]

In June a cover of the Buddy Holly classic "Not Fade Away," which Florence and the Machine recorded for the tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly tied to Holly's seventy-fifth birthday year, was released^[58] and they debuted Ceremonials's setup track "What the Water Gave Me" at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California.^[59]

On 23 August a video for What the Water Gave Me debuted on the band's website and was released on iTunes as a buzz single^[60] along with an accompanying video on their VEVO channel on YouTube.^[61] The video drew 1.5 million views in two days exceeding expectations. The track received play on U.S. alternative radio and strong support from Los Angeles radio station KROQ.^[56]

The lead single titled "Shake It Out" was released on the internet in September 2011 with standard release 11 October. The single was sent to U.S. radio stations with top 40, Adult Album Alternative, alternative and R&B formats. In Australia, the song has been playlisted at Triple J and Nova radio networks and received strong airplay in Scandinavia, Italy and Canada.^[56]

Ceremonials was released on 31 October 2011. It comes in a standard 12 song version with "deluxe" digital and CD 20-track versions that feature additional songs and demo and acoustic numbers.^[56]

The single "What the Water Gave Me" has been described as inspired by the suicide of Virginia Woolf and death by drowning as a theme of the album. Welch describes clipping news stories where parents drown while rescuing their children who have gotten lost in the ocean. Welch notes that the parents would not want it any other way.^[19]

[edit] Discography

• Lungs (2009)
• Ceremonials (2011)

[edit] References