Florence and the Machine

Overview

She’s launched her own iPhone app, recorded a track for the latest installment of the Twilight saga, and is the “cue empowering moment” audio hot pick for reality TV and news producers, but if you look past the promotional hoopla of Florence and the Machine, you’ll find the raw talent of a young (only 22!) singer/songwriter with a set of lungs so powerful she could wake Sleeping Beauty.

Over the past two years, Florence Welch has gone from touring the London pub circuit with her former Machine, Rum Shebeen frontman Dave Ashby, to upgrading to a four-piece band and headlining festivals all around the world. Her debut album, subtly entitled Lungs, is a mixed bag of musical styles that encompass both the solo performer who can bring a small auditorium to their knees and the more theatrical, costume-changing, moon-crest straddling, Kate Bush-esque Florence and the Machine. While tracks 'Raise it Up (Rabbit Heart)', 'Hurricane Drunk' and her cover of 'You’ve Got The Love' salute ‘90s dance anthems, it is tracks like 'Girl With One Eye' and 'Kiss With A Fist' that truly summon the fire in Florence’s belly and are delightful to watch her perform on stage.

If you’re already booked in to catch her at Splendour, then I can only suggest that this is an artist well worth experiencing in a more intimate setting. With each breath, Florence takes her audience to a higher place, playing her voice like an instrument that has no need for extra percussion other than the delicate twangs of the harp that sits beside her. She plays her Splendour Sideshow at the Enmore Theatre on August 5.

Tickets for the fourth and final show, at the larger Hordern Pavilion, go on sale on Tuesday, June 8, at 9am.