This is turning into more of a fanzine than a diary, but as I spend many of my waking hours listening to music, perhaps that's to be expected. Anyway, this is a shameless and belated plug for the very wonderful Florence and the Machine who I had the pleasure of seeing at Glastonbury about ten days ago.
I had owned the album "Lungs" for a few days before the festival, more out of curiosity than commitment. I saw Florence performing at the Brits with Dizzee Rascal, and must have heard the singles on the radio. My younger nephew had expressed enthusiasm, but I couldn't really say I was a fan. An hour in their presence sorted that out.
I am pretty jaded about new artists these days, and some old ones for that matter. I took great pleasure in ignoring Muse's headlining performance at Glastonbury because to my ears they are just recycling styles proved more successfully by various forbears, rather than producing anything genuinely new. Florence Welch, on the other hand, while she inevitably owes debts to other artists, struck me as a one-of-a-kind. Her relatively deep voice shares something with Siouxsie Sioux and as "The Scream" remains one of my favorite records after over thirty years, that's a good start.
The production on "Lungs" might be described as lush, with lots of layers, but I'd be tempted to call it over-produced. Live, the sound was simpler, despite the presence of a string section and small choir of backing singers. This duly gave Florence's voice greater prominence, while the immaculate sound engineering that is such a remarkable feature of Glastonbury made the lyrics clearly intelligible.
The set included two unreleased songs including one from the soundtrack of the new Twilight movie, and a cover of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" which the crowd clearly enjoyed even if Q magazine later felt bound to turn up its nose at it!
Anyway, the energy and enthusiasm that went into the performance, not to ignore the fact that Ms Welch is quite easy on the eye, made it the standout performance of Glastonbury 2010 for me. There is likely to be something of a hiatus now while a second album is recorded, and I fear I have blown my chance of seeing Florence and the Machine in an intimate venue, as their return seems likely to be in theatres or even arenas. Nevertheless I plan on being there when it occurs.
