Florence Welch admits she loses herself in her music. She also loses her manager’s cell phone often, apparently by Time Out Chicago

When she answers my call, Florence Welch seems to be working in a call center. A din of ringing phones, chattering workers and knocking doors sounds more like corporate headquarters than a New York hotel room. In a way, it is. The moniker Florence + the Machine has become surprisingly prescient for the 25-year-old. Following her smash single “Dog Days Are Over,” the wailer’s aptly titled debut, 2009’s Lungs, sold millions worldwide. Her June gig at the Aragon sold out in a heartbeat. And the redhead just released a cathedral of a sophomore album, the hallelujah-heavy and celebratory Ceremonials. The lush new songs are slow builds. In conversation, however, the bubbly Brit talks a mile a minute.

Sleep figures heavily on Ceremonials. One song begins, “I’ve been losing sleep.” Are you exhausted?
I’ve always been kind of, I don’t know… [To someone in the room] Yeah, I can’t find it here.… I’m a light sleeper. I’ve never been one of those people who can put their head down and suddenly everything disappears. Nighttime is the time I get most scared, anxious or worried. In those darker moments before waking or sleeping is when I feel most, I don’t know, I can turn on myself, and my imagination can take me dark places. I’m always terrified of the idea that there’s something in there with you, be it your fears or an actual apparition.

Has the anxiety grown with fame?
I’ve actually been okay. I was really bad for a while. Doing the first record was bad. This one has been easier. I don’t know whether it’s because I’ve been growing up or things are becoming more settled in my head.

The new album is loaded with gospel choirs and church organs. Are you spiritual, or is that just a sound you gravitate toward?
That has to do with music being a catharsis, something to take you out of yourself and something that can maybe absolve you. I had that moment of just being so tired of myself and these patterns of behavior I’ve fallen into, and I think everyone can be quite hard on themselves, and music takes that out of you, and it’s that moment of clarity that everyone is looking for, where you don’t have a future or past. I feel things in quite an intense way. I’m not actually the most intense person. My ex-boyfriend, this new girl was working with him, and she was like, oh, my God, you go out with Florence, wow, God, she must be really intense, because, you know, the music’s so intense. I understand why people might think that. But he was like, no, actually she’s pretty mellow. But if I feel something, be it love, be it panic, be it joy, be it fear, I feel it in a really intense way. It takes over me, and I can’t control it.

Read more here.

'My heart was going crazy'

Backstage after Florence and the Machine's sold-out gig to launch their new album, Ceremonials, at London's Hackney Empire, Florence Welch talks about her hopes for the record plus what Nick Clegg has to do to win her affections …

You can read a full interview with Florence in this Sunday's Observer

Interview

If there were ever any doubts about Florence Welch’s self-possession as a performer, they were quickly dispelled during her set at the Met’s Costume Institute Gala last May honoring the late Alexander McQueen. Backed by her band, The Machine, her improbably red red hair loose to the shoulders, and her impossibly long, lean, five-foot-eight-inch frame draped in an orange-gold McQueen gown, Welch offered up powerful renditions of a handful of songs off her critically lauded 2009 debut album, Lungs, before closing out her set with a blistering cover of David Bowie’s “Rebel Rebel,” which she dedicated to McQueen. Welch then punctuated the tribute by running out into the crowd of assembled heavies, which included Karl Lagerfeld, Jay-Z, and Madonna, and sidling up to Paul McCartney, with whom she purposefully locked eyes as she sang, “Rebel rebel, how could they know? / Hot tramp, I love you so . . . ” Welch had never before met McCartney. But he, like most everyone else in attendance, was up and dancing—a testament to Welch’s ability to win fans in even the toughest of rooms.

It was the kind of moment—and the kind of instinct—that makes it easy to understand how so many people have so quickly become so enamored with Welch and her brand of dramatic, monumental pop. The Met gig marked a culmination of a season of high-profile command performances for Welch—she’d also been summoned earlier this year to sing at both the Grammys and the Oscars. Just five years ago, though, she was still an art-school dropout from Camberwell, in southeast London, who was discovered by her manager, Mairead Nash, while belting out an Etta James song in a bathroom at a club. At the time, Welch was working with a rotating cast of musicians as she developed a raw, nascent version of the widescreen art-pop sound that would later emerge on Lungs.

In reading descriptions of Welch, two terms appear over and over: pre-Raphaelite, which is usually used to describe the left-of-center effect of the way her shock of fiery hair frames her prominent features and cream-colored skin; and whirling dervish, which often refers to the bouncing, swaying hippie rain-dance she likes to do when she sings. But neither gets at the eclectic set of ideas and influences that seem to converge in Welch’s work: Lungs is a nuanced but unabashedly outsized record that draws on aspects of classic soul, confessional singer-songwriter music, and British art-pop and post-punk—Aretha Franklin funneled through Carly Simon and dressed up like Kate Bush; her lyrics read like extended journal entries; live, she seems like she’s leading a rapturous spiritual gathering that’s also a clubby performance-art piece; and her predilection for billowy boho tops, sparkly short shorts, and sky-high heels projects both an easy earthiness and a high glamour. Welch’s endearing eccentricity has also captured the attention—and affection—of the fashion world. Gucci designer Frida Giannini has said that Welch served as an inspiration for the house’s Fall 2011 collection; Giannini also created the costumes for Florence + The Machine’s most recent US tour.

Next month, Welch will unveil her as-yet-untitled (at press time) follow-up to Lungs, the first single from which, “What the Water Gave Me,” is a swirling, mounting, moody ballad in the mode of more elegiac tracks from her first album such as “Dog Days Are Over,” “Kiss With a Fist,” and “Cosmic Love.”

On a warm evening in June, director Baz Luhrmann, who helped stage Welch’s performance at the Costume Institute Gala, met the 25-year-old singer and her younger sister, Grace, at the Standard Grill in New York City’s Meatpacking District, where they were decompressing after having miraculously recovered Florence’s cell phone from the taxi in which she’d inadvertently left it behind.

BAZ LUHRMANN: Hi, Flo. How are you? Baz Luhrmann, intense interviewer, reporting for duty. [laughs] I’m holding a Gucci handbag, which I found in a taxi, and I was one of the crowd standing outside of the Standard Hotel in the Meatpacking District in New York City, where I saw this striking-looking woman with red hair shaking and trembling . . .

FLORENCE WELCH: In the gutter!

LUHRMANN: Yes, and wearing this fantastic gypsy velvet frock, and there was a lovely person with blonde hair sitting next to her going “Snap out of it! You can survive this! Pull yourself together!”

Shake It Out

Apparently Zane Lowe will play the next single 'Shake It Out' and an interview with Florence during his on Radio One, so tune in tomorrow between 19:00 and 21:00 this listen to the whole track!

Zane Lowe

30/08/2011
Zane has highlights from 30 Seconds To Mars at Reading, plus Florence Welch on the phone.

Tune in to BBC Radio One from 7pm and listen out for Florence Welch on the phone with Zane Lowe. If you are unable to hear it the first time round look out for it here.

Florence in NME

In other news, Florence is back! Speaking exclusively to NME, she tells us all about her brand new track and spills the beans on her new album. It’s all about “love, death, violence and guilt,” apparently. Read the full interview inside.

German Vogue

SIR ELTON JOHN TRAF POP-EXZENTRIKERIN FLORENCE WELCH IN LONDON UND SPRACH MIT IHR IM VOGUE-INTERVIEW ÜBER MODE, MUSIK UND FRAUEN MIT DEM GEWISSEN ETWAS
Florence Welch ist eine jener Frauen, denen Exzentrik wie auf den Leib geschnitten zu sein scheint: Rote Mähne, exzessive Bühnenshows, extravaganter Stil - immer wieder beeindruckt die Pop-Diva auf besondere, aber authentische und sympathische Art und Weise. Mit ihren Songs, in denen sie von ihrem Leben, ihren Freunden und Lieben erzählt, schreibt die 24-Jährige fleißig Popgeschichte - 2009 wurde ihr Debütalbum "Lungs" in Großbritannien mit Platin ausgezeichnet. Und sogar Sir Elton John findet, dass Florence Welch eine jener Frauen sei, die auf der Bühne "wirklich Ausstrahlung haben und mit ihrem Publikum kommunizieren" - eben eine Frau, die über "das gewisse Etwas" verfügt, so sein Urteil.

Für VOGUE trafen sich die beiden Musiker in den Londoner Abbey Road Studios, wo die 24-Jährige gerade das zweite Album von "Florence + the Machine" - wie sie ihre Bandkompositionen mit wechselnder Begleitung nennt - aufnimmt. Im Gespräch mit der Pop-Exzentrikerin verrät Elton John: "Du erinnerst mich ein bisschen an die Hippie-Ära und gleichzeitig an Aretha Franklin. Beim Singen scheinst du in eine andere Welt einzutauchen, du wirkst völlig selbstverloren, fast wie in Trance. Es gibt nur wenige, die dazu in der Lage sind: Nina Simone konnte es, Aretha kann es - und du. Du gehörst zu den Sängerinnen, die ganz in ihren Songs sind." Woraufhin Florence verrät: "Es klappt nicht immer, aber wenn es einen überkommt, dann denkt man sich: Ja das ist es! Das ist der Grund, warum ich es tue!"

Auf die Frage hin, was sie zu der Florence gemacht hat, die sie heute ist, antwortet die Londonerin: "Seltsamerweise vor allem Männer. Die Stones, The Clash … Die Bands der Südlondoner Punkszene, die vom Blues geprägt waren. Als ich mit 16 an die Kunsthochschule kam, sind wir auf Raves und Partys gegangen und haben Pirate Punk gehört, die Talking Heads, Joy Division."

Heute wolle sie vor allem ihre Lieder singen und Musik machen, wie Florence verrät. "Hauptsache ich kann singen", so ihr Resümee. Und dass ihr neues Album statt wie geplant im September, nun doch erst im Januar erscheinen wird? Es sei ihr verziehen. Das gewisse Etwas kann man schließlich nicht aus dem Ärmel schütteln.

SIR ELTON JOHN POP TRAF Exzentrikerin FLORENCE WELCH IN LONDON AND LANGUAGE IN VOGUE WITH YOUR INTERVIEW ABOUT FASHION, MUSIC AND WOMEN WITH SOMETHING TO SOME
Florence Welch is one of those women who seem to be as eccentric cut on the body: red mane, excessive stage shows, flamboyant style - always impressed with the pop diva on special, but authentic and sympathetic manner. With their songs, which they of their lives, their friends and loved ones, tells the 24-year-old writes hard rock history - 2009 her debut album 'Lungs' in Britain has been certified platinum. And even Sir Elton John thinks that Florence Welch is one of those women who have "charisma and really communicate with their audience" on stage - just a woman who has that certain "something" was his verdict.

VOGUE for the two musicians met at London's Abbey Road studios where the 24-year-old just the second album of "Florence + The Machine" - picks up - as she calls her band compositions with varying accompaniment. In an interview with the pop eccentric tells Elton John:.. "You remind me a bit of the hippie era, and simultaneously to Aretha Franklin In singing, you seem in a different world to dive, you cast yourself completely lost, almost in a trance, it is only a few who are capable of: Nina Simone could, Aretha can it - you and Beac're one of the singers who are all in their songs. " Whereupon Florence said: "It does not always work, but when it comes over, then you think: Yes it is This is the reason why I do it!"

When asked what she has done to Florence, it is today, answers the Londoner: "Oddly enough, especially men, the Stones, The Clash ... The bands in the south London punk scene, which were influenced by the blues when I with 16.. came to art school, we went to parties and raves and have heard Pirate Punk, Talking Heads, Joy Division. "

Today she wanted to sing in front of all her songs and make music, as Florence says. "The main thing I can sing," said her résumé. And that her new album instead of as planned in September, but now appear only in January is? It was forgiven her. That certain something you can not finally shake off the cuff.

View more pictures here

COVER STORY: FLORENCE WELCH

Florence Welch is one of the most enigmatic women in music. She has traveled the world, sung at the Oscars... and sleeps on a mattress on the floor of her mom's house. We're obsessed, and judging by your flood of "please, let Florence be on the cover!" emails, you are too. Below, a sample of new info to feed your Florence fix.

On Her Emotional Connection to Music:
It's funny because I'm not actually very good at saying how I feel in person. I think songwriting is a way for me to deal with my own emotional failings in life. When I'm making a song, it's almost as if I can express how I feel. It's almost as if, to get a message across to one person, you have to sing it to a couple of thousand.

On her first European tour, with MGMT:
We were desperate to do it, but obviously had no money. But my dad said he'd take us around in his camper van... so [the band] and my dad chugged around Europe for a month. We'd get to these tiny European towns and just look for the biggest thing there, which was always MGMT's tour bus. That's how we found the venue. They must have thought we were insane, turning up with pots and pans rattling, hanging out the window like "Hellooo."

On childhood aspirations:
I wanted to be a witch when i was a kid. I was obsessed with witchcraft. At school, me and my friends had these spell books: I always wanted a more magical reality. I had a shrine at home and I did a spell to try and make the boy in the other class fall in love with me."

Get the full story, and tons of Florence photos, in the new NYLON Music Issue!

Ooh La La, Blake Lively Talks to Florence Welch About Clothes, Men and More!

She’s got a hit show, a mega summer movie and a contract with Chanel—so, yeah, things are going pretty well for Blake Lively. She tells her new best friend, singer Florence Welch, all about it.
Get a sneak preview of Blake Lively’s cover shoot, just for our Facebook fans!
As told to Amy Spencer

She makes you feel that she and life are going to go on forever.” Can you guess whom director Baz Luhrmann was talking about in his tribute to one of Time’s 100 most influential people of 2011? Streep? Kidman? Bacall? Nope—it’s Gossip Girl’s Blake Lively! Her role as Serena van der Woodsen may have made her a household name, but it’s Blake’s impressive drama chops (have you seen her turn as a drug-addled single mom in 2010’s The Town?) that have helped her land movie parts more seasoned actors would kill for. And she’s quickly becoming a fashion icon (without a stylist, mind you). Karl Lagerfeld—Mr. Chanel himself—brought her as his date to this year’s Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala, one of fashion’s highest-profile events, calling her an “American dream girl.”
This summer, Blake fights big-screen villains with Ryan Reynolds in the blockbuster Green Lantern; next up is the indie drama Hick and a role in Oliver Stone’s Savages. The girl’s on fire—and did we mention she’s only 23? Listen in as Glamour’s guest interviewer, Blake’s good friend Florence and the Machine singer Florence Welch, pumps her for details on all that good stuff and more.
FLORENCE WELCH: Blake, you looked a-mazing at the Met ball the other night.
BLAKE LIVELY:Stop it! I think we love each other too much—it’s not healthy! The performance you did that night, it’s the best thing I’ve been to yet.
FLORENCE WELCH: It was so nice having you in the crowd. I remember meeting you after my first show in New York. You got the band pizza, and they instantly fell in love with you. It was so sweet.
BLAKE LIVELY: I feel like the story of our meeting should be a little more happenstance so I sound less like a stalker, but it’s not. My brother was obsessed with you. When he played your album for me, my jaw dropped. Two days later you were playing the Bowery Ballroom, and we said, “This is serendipitous! We’re supposed to see her.”
FLORENCE WELCH: [Laughs hard.]
BLAKE LIVELY: So I got a ticket, and when they said, “Do you want to come backstage?” I’m like, Oh my gosh, I would love to meet this wonderful goddess! And then you were the nicest person I’d ever met. I thought, I need to know her better.
FLORENCE WELCH: And then Vegas was really fun as well, wasn’t it? That sealed the deal on our friendship, spending New Year’s together in sparkly outfits, standing on a table.
BLAKE LIVELY: You said, “Come to Vegas!” and I rounded up 16 of my family members.
FLORENCE WELCH: I think it was your uncle or your dad who went to get me ice because I’d fallen off the table mid-freestyle rapping.
BLAKE LIVELY: Well, it’s difficult to wear such high Louboutins and also freestyle rap. [Laughs.]
FLORENCE WELCH: [Pauses.] How am I doing on interviewing you so far?
BLAKE LIVELY: Wonderful!
FLORENCE WELCH: OK, my career in journalism can start, then. So how does it feel to be the face of Chanel’s Mademoiselle handbag?
BLAKE LIVELY: It’s such an honor. When I found out I got [the job], you and I went to dinner and concocted this plan, like two little girls at a tea party, saying, “Oh, it would be the best if we had a party. And you’ll perform, and we’ll do it in Paris.” Like you and I were in charge of Chanel!”

Flo in Daily Mail

This is also means that Flo is in Glamour Magazine too so we will update you soon.

Hanni El Khatib On Bonnaroo, Florence Welch's Closet, and Festival Jitters

We got a chance to sit down with knife-fight rocker Hanni El Khatib before he packed up and headed off to Bonnaroo, and he filled us in on artists he's excited to see, his dream festival line-up (which involves bringing Kurt Cobain back from the dead), and the secret behind tourmate Florence Welch's inimitable style. 

You can catch Hanni at Bonnaroo on Friday, June 12th at 6:40pm at the On Tap Lounge. Hear more of his music on his Myspace, check out his official website for more tour dates, and download his singles from iTunes now.

View the video here

Ivan Ink 'n' Isa Interview

Nick Grimshaw Interview with Drake

On Sunday he [Drake] was in the studio with Florence

I went to the studio with Flo... The night after the VMAs we went to the studio and we just clicked... Mairead, Stuart everyone is great... Yeah we were both big Florence fans.

It was a great moment I think it's just the place we were at, at the moment with the Grammy and VMA recognition... It was a real shit show we were wasted [Whilst in the studio on Sunday].. I think Tabs was filming... I can't wait for the world to hear the music... It was incredible.

Also Drake is working with Jamie xx.

UPDATED
Here is the link to listen to the whole interview/whole Nick Grimshaw show on iPlayer.

The Lab Magazine

Can't read the scans? Read it here.

ACX 2010 Florence and the Machine Shows Off her Shoes and Lipstick Backstage

Florence Welch of Florence And The Machine generously fit time in her hectic schedule (she literally walked off the plane and came straight to venue, missing her initial interview time slot) for KROQ’s joq Stryker to interview her in her dressing room last night. Which meant, amongst other things, we got a sneak-peek at her enviable wardrobe.


With Stryker on her right, the red-haired chanteuse sat right next to her exploding suitcase, jammed full of impressive garments, including the billowy chiffon number she floated around in on stage tonight and fancy footwear, and showed us some highlights. Our biggest crush? Her Gold studded Louboutins that would make any fashionista blush/cream/smolder.

Other fun beauty secret from backstage? Florence collects lipsticks at the airport, “little luxuries that keep you going.” (Stryker was so mesmerized, he even tried some on.) While she’s ethereal onstage, with her angelic voice and soul-lifting song writing, off stage Florence is down to earth, modest, and unabashedly girlie off stage. It’s a delightful combination.



As for news (thank god we were able to pay attention while salivating at those studded heels): What has Florence and The Machine been up to? Ms. Welch recently performed at the Nobel Piece Prize Concert, along with Elvis Costello and other musicians. Her set, consisting of a 60-piece orchestra and 20 strong choir, “made me want to do orchestral gigs in the future.” Mark your calendars and wear your best shoes for that one, folks.

Flo Interview

Track name from Second Album revealed

Speaking to Newsbeat, Welch said: "There's a song called Spectrum which has a lot to do with rainbows and prisms - so it has taken on a lot more of a crystal theme."

"I did a song inspired by these two atomic particles called strangeness and charm, now everyone thinks I'm going to do an album about the periodic table - which I'm not."

She added: "But that would be a good concept album though. You could go into schools and get people back into science."

'More chemical'
Lungs spent 28 consecutive weeks in the UK album chart before finally reaching number one in January 2010.

The south London singer explained that the album will see a change in her lyrical themes.

"The atmosphere is quite tough but the lyrics are moving away from gothic horror toward something that's slightly more chemical."

"It's ages away from finished yet though."

Flo talks about 2nd album plans

After a summer of festivals, and some time off in September, Florence Welch has told 6 Music she is hoping to get back into the studio this October with Paul Epworth and James Ford, who worked on her debut Lungs.

Georgie Rogers caught up with her at the Isle of Wight festival:

Absolute Radio

I had a link for F+TM's set at Lattitude sent to me but it has expired but there are lots of other F+TM videos and interviews up on their site so check it out here!


Absolute Radio
Winner of 6 Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010
Winner of 2 Arqiva Commercial Radio Awards 2010

Artists choose their albums of the decade - part one

Florence Welch (Florence And The Machine) picks...

Arcade Fire - Funeral

It's maybe not defined the decade, but for me on hearing that it just choked me in some way.

It really kind of opened up my idea that pop music or contemporary music could be - so orchestral and grand, but at the same time tough. It was all kinds of things.

I remember sitting on my bed having to listen to it all the way through, you can't just have it on in the background. I was really swept away by it.

Audio Here