Florence and the Machine have debuted a brand new video for track "What the Water Gave Me" during a show in Berkeley, California. The indie-pop collective fronted by Florence Welch give fans first taste of what they can expect on their forthcoming still-untitled sophomore disc, due in November. The soaring, chiming, epically massive new track is imbued with a gospel choir and Welch's epic pipes, and seems destined to rule the festival circuit for the foreseeable future.The 24-year-old British songstress elaborated on the title and meaning of the song: "It's a song for the water, because in music and art what I'm really interested in are the things that are overwhelming," Welch said. "The ocean seems to me to be nature's great overwhelmer. When I was writing this song I was thinking a lot about all those people who've lost their lives in vain attempts to save their loved ones from drowning. "It's about water in all forms and all bodies. It's about a lot of things; Virginia Woolf creeps into it, and of course Frieda Kahlo, whose painfully beautiful painting gave me the title."
The new single has a lofty premise, but never collapses under the weight of its own drama. It's a cliche that usually involves a reference to Marmite, but Florence and the Machine divide opinion. Because of Welch's voice, an instrument that can flit between tremulous and strident in an instant. With a title taken from a Frida Kahlo painting and a lyric referencing Virginia Woolf, it's a lofty premise for a pop song. Welch mixing images of suicide with declarations of undying love over fluttering harp and robust guitar. This delicate balance gives the song its edge.
It begins clothed in the kind of gravity-defying 80s goth. Vocally, the track is a lesson in restraint for the singer, who's known for her clarion-like vocals. It's not until the closing moments that she goes for it full pelt. Up until that point, she's trying out her new, softly-softly vocal style. The track builds into the kind of re-affirming epic that anyone would be proud of. The ethereal video depicts various clips of Florence and the Machine in a recording session at Abbey Road Studios in London as Welch gets giddy in the studio laboring over some lyrics, but eventually, the creative muses come together, and the images and music burst into a joyful cacophony.
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