By Lydia Regan
My first encounter with Florence + the Machine was on a cold November Saturday, I was looking for some new songs to put on my Ipod, and came across a couple of techno remixes of Florence Welch’s songs, including “Shake it Out”, “Cosmic Lover”, and, “You got the Love.” I did not try to find her original music at first, because I thought that the techno beats in the back mixed with her great vocals was enough, and I was afraid that it would not be as good to hear her songs regularly. But one night while watching “Saturday Night Live” actor Jason Segel announced that Florence + the Machine would be performing, so I stayed up late to hear them. Singer Florence Welch wore a gorgeous black and white high-fashion dress and sang “Shake it Out” with a choir behind her; her next song was “No Light, No Light” and she wore a long dark dress; I thought both performances were great and I enjoyed her style. Instantaneously, I was remained of my favorite band, the Cranberries; Florence’s voice had incredible range, like the Cranberries’ singer Dolores O’Riordan’s.
New to Florence + the Machine? Well, I am too, but I advise you to listen to “Dog Days Are Over” and then to “Cosmic Lover”, now go to her new CD, Ceremonials, and play “Shake it Out”, and then play “No Light, No Light”, now venture through the entire CD, which displays her full vocal range and has many different themes. Now go and watch the videos for her songs; the video for “Shake it Out” is one of my favorites, it reminds me of a little movie, and has an elegant touch. The music video for “No Light, No Light” shows a man practicing voodoo, and is really unique. After this, try to find as many techno, and electro remixes of her songs if you like that type of music, because it gives it a whole new feeling, and its cool what she can do with her voice.
Florence + the Machine is different from your Ke$ha, and Katy Perry; they have songs that you sing, and stay in your mind, but her songs make you feel strong emotions, and encourage you to live – to get out there and do something; in other words, they are inspiring – even if I am replaying the same track, over and over, I always have a new feeling, or new way of thinking about the song or life, and I think that is what music should be like.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbN0nX61rIs
The video for “Shake it Out”!
