Ceremonials, the new album from Florence + The Machine, will drop on November 1, 2011 backed by TV appearances on Saturday Night Live (Nov 19) and Good Morning America (Nov 21). Florence + The Machine will also be profiled on VH1 Divas on December 19th.
Paul Epworth (Adele) produced Ceremonials. Epworth and the group first worked together on “Cosmic Love” on Florence + and The Machine’s debut album, Lungs, in 2009. “With the first record, I feel like I hit upon an idea halfway through and with this album, I’ve been able to refine all those mixed-up influences and ideas and make them whole…I wanted it to feel like a body of work done at one time, in one place, with one producer and I’m really glad I got to do that,” stated Florence Welch.
The first single off the new album, Shake It Out, was given four stars by Rolling Stone, with the magazine having this to say about Ceremonials:
“The rock band most forcefully evoked on Ceremonials is one of the biggest of all time: U2. Like them, Florence and the Machine are a true band, who channel garage rock camaraderie into a huge, lashing sound more fit for an Olympian mountain peak than a garage. And like U2, Florence and the Machine are fronted by a singer with the pipes, and the shamelessness, to pull off the melodrama to turn the ridiculous into the sublime.”
Watch the “Shake It Out” video:
Commenting on the new album, Florence Welch stated, “This album continues those eternal themes of the first album love, death, sex and violence. I’m constantly battling between two sides of myself, the safe, grown up and responsible me and the freedom of getting away from all that…As a singer, you’re always looking for that moment of transcendence being able to leave your body behind. It’s about dealing with the choices you’ve made and the life you want to lead.
It’s a lot about guilt some of it is quite earnest and confessional. However, I think anything reverential in my songs is usually about having a hangover. There is definitely a kind of tragic heroine theme.”
Ceremonials Track Listing:
• Only If For A Night
• Shake It Out
• What The Water Gave Me
• Never Let Me Go
• Breaking Down
• Lover To Lover
• No Light, No Light
• Seven Devils
• Heartlines
• Spectrum
• All This And Heaven Too
• Leave My Body
Ceremonials Deluxe Additional:
13. Remain Nameless
14. Strangeness & Charm
15. Bedroom Hymns
16. What The Water Gave Me (demo)
17. Landscape (demo)
18. Heartlines (acoustic)
19. Shake It Out (acoustic)
20. Breaking Down (acoustic)
More on Florence + The Machine [Courtesy of Universal Republic]:
Nominated for a Grammy for Best New Artist and an MTV Video of the Year Award along with unforgettable performances on last year’s MTV Music Awards as well as the Grammy and Academy Awards, Florence + The Machine’s debut album was No. 1 and sold over 3 million copies in the UK and received the British Critic’s Choice Award. As a live touring act, Florence has received unanimous raves.
Noted Jon Pareles of the NY Times when he reviewed her Bowery Ballroom show, “There’s also far more to her voice: bluesy curves, rock belting, Celtic melancholy and banshee quavers, pouring on emotion as the songs metamorphosed. She pushes herself toward the primal without sacrificing control.”
Florence has also appeared on virtually every major music festival around the world, including Coachella and Glastonbury’s Other Stage which drew the biggest crowd in the festival’s 40-year history. Florence + The Machine is scheduled to perform at several upcoming radio shows including Chicago on December 4 and Kansas City on December 5.
