London, UK · art-rock · baroque pop

Florence + The Machine

2 festivals played ↓

The high priestess of festival headline sets — barefoot, feral, hymn-sized, sprinting the barricade while 'Dog Days' detonates.

Florence Welch and keyboardist Isabella Summers began performing together as teenagers under the joke name Florence Robot/Isa Machine, later shortened to Florence and the Machine when Welch needed something quicker to say before a gig. The group took shape properly in London in 2007, rounded out by guitarist Rob Ackroyd, drummer Christopher Lloyd Hayden and harpist Tom Monger.

The band's sound pairs Welch's large, unrestrained voice with harp, percussion-heavy arrangements and choral backing, drawing on soul, gospel and art rock. Debut album Lungs, released in July 2009, was produced by James Ford, Paul Epworth, Steve Mackey, Summers and Charlie Hugall, and gave the band "Dog Days Are Over" and "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)."

Lungs took five weeks to reach number two in the UK before climbing to number one the following January, staying in the top 40 for 65 consecutive weeks and ranking among the best-selling albums of 2009 and 2010. Ceremonials (2011) also topped the UK chart, and How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015) became their first US number one, reaching the top spot in eight countries.

High as Hope and Dance Fever followed. The band won the Brit Award for Best British Album for Lungs in 2010 and the Critics' Choice Award in 2009, and have picked up six Grammy nominations including Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album.

Welch's stage presence, constant movement, direct address to the crowd and flowing costume, has become as recognisable as the records themselves, built on a live show anchored by Ackroyd, Hayden and Monger alongside Summers.

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art-rockbaroque pop