Today's Pick

Indie rock band Florence + The Machine have already unveiled one video for their powerful tune, "Lover to Lover," the darkly stripped-back live clip that surfaced in January, but the English powerhouse went in a much more cinematic direction when releasing an updated set of visuals, which premiered last Wednesday on Nowness. The gospel-tinged blastoff appears on the band's 2011 hit sophomore set, "Ceremonials," and is scheduled to be released on December 4th as their fifth single.
This song finds lead singer Florence Welch singing of hopping from "room to room, bed to bed." It was inspired by '60s Soul numbers such as "I Heard It Through The Grapevine." She explained to Mojo magazine: "It's me saying, 'I want to make a song just like this.' I was listening to lots of Marvin Gaye and lots of Otis Redding, and 'Lover To Lover' was me wanting to make a song I could imagine a male Soul singer doing. I was listening to a lot of Sam and Dave, as well." The arena-scale Motown of "Lover to Lover," is reminiscent of the Eurythmics at their most soulful.
Helmed by director Vincent Haycock, the dramatic new clip features shots of Welch in the throes of a tumultuous and disintegrating relationship with up-and-coming Australian actor Ben Mendelsohn as their lovers' quarrel escalates into something a little more darkly dramatic. "It was completely improvised," she said. "I had to think about things that I was actually angry and upset about. It is cathartic, but you have to literally let yourself go. Ben is so sweet and accommodating - afterwards he gave me this massive hug and made me feel so comfortable."
Beginning in a drab Los Angeles house and building to a cathartic gospel frenzy, the romance ends as the lovesick heroine disappears amid mist into the Pacific Ocean. The baroque pop chanteuse Welch playing a put-upon housewife who echoes the track's heart-aching refrain, and performs a Tale of American Heartbreak who sets a fire burning possessions and seeking her salvation and gets swallowed up by the ocean in a washed-out California beach town and according to Welch, the shoot was an emotional one: "It was the most intense experience because we shot the whole day before; I went back to the hotel, slept for three hours, woke up and dove into the sea."

Calvin Harris has released a magnanimous new video for his new energetic jam, "Sweet Nothing," which features the guest vocals from Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine, and is the fifth single feature on the Scottish DJ's upcoming third studio album, "18 Months," which will be released at the end of October, and Harris stated via his Twitter account that it would be "like a compilation album but with me all over it."
This electro-disco dance-hall banger is about a lover who gives such sweet nothing. viewers are introduced to a back story that explains the sad lyrics. The ballad follows the familiar pattern of taking love-strung vocals and layering them over a bouncy, ever-building beat. It's a classic Harris club tune supporting Welch' iconic, quivering vocals. Ironically, Harris' outstanding production beats perfectly pound away as Welch's powerful vocals emotionally help you sail away through the video's emotional story.
Welch never really strains herself, apparently saving her typically athletic singing for tracks that won't primarily be used at dance music festivals. The English songstress adds her throaty vocals to a throbbing dancebeat and delivers more aggressive and animated performance as the beat gets faster and pounds away halfway through the video. The result is propulsive and ear catching, while also providing some series drama. The video is a little cinematic catharsis, directed by Vincent Haycock and was filmed over two days in a Working Men's Club in Dalston, London.
The video rather than depicting the usual fist pumping club scenes took on narrative form, and see this odd pair taking on characters in a downer narrative. It begins with a desolate-looking Harris is sitting in a fast-food restaurant waiting for his food, while Welch Playing the role of an abused woman as a mysterious cross-dressing cabaret singer in a small, dingy, seedy, Serbian nightclub, pouring the pain and frustration of her unfulfilled life and fearful of her future into every revealing and explosive performance, which continues to be artfully intercut with Harris' unfolding situation and eventually it all converges.

Florence + The Machine have released an ultra-theatrical video for "Spectrum," the fifth and final single off of the English indie rock band's most recent sophomore studio album, "Ceremonials." The frontwoman Florence Welch said despite her own natural conflicted and irreverent mindset, she attempted to put some positive messages on album: "Like putting something in there that wasn't just for me, like 'Spectrum,' they're really earnest, saying don't be afraid of who you are and follow your heart."
Musically, "Spectrum" is a downtempo baroque pop and indie pop and drums while backing vocals repeatedly sing "Say my name" throughout the song. The song is a huge, churchy tune, even in the context of the band's typically bombastic blend of arena rock and gospel. Music video legend David LaChappelle rose to the challenge of making a clip for the song, matching its drama and energy with a vivid color palette and incredibly theatrical staging.
LaChapelle explained: "It's a beautiful song that really touched me and inspired me to create imagery that matches its power. 'Spectrum' is free of scepticism, irony, and the coldness one finds in a lot of contemporary popular music. It's the opposite – full of light, positivity and authentic joy. I hope that I can do justice to this moving modern classic." The clip depicts ballet dancers pirouetting, jumping, and dancing around the singing songstress. Upon the release of the video, critics praised Welch's look and the video's dark atmosphere.
The new colorful clip looks like every fashion blogger's "Favesies" board on Pinterest, and the often imitated, never duplicated Welch brought out the big guns for this new video which is as bombastic and over the top as the song itself, and a what a ballerina-mermaid dance party looks like inside Balmain's house and/or a Baz Luhrmann film. It's a sparkly musical venture featuring Welch as a futuristic Venus emerging from a spiky, metallic shell among other things! By the end, you won't just be "saying her name," you'll be screaming it.

Florence And The Machine return with a new video for the bombastic new song "Breath of Life," their contribution to the upcoming summer blockbuster fantasy thriller film, "Snow White and the Huntsman," hits theaters on June 1st. The clip features additional bonus battle scenes from the highly anticipated film, including Oscar winner Charlize Theron sinking into a bath of milk and literally sucking the life out of people. If you need a little magic for your Monday, go nuts below.
When Florence Welch, the "Machine" frontwoman spoke to MTV News back in March about recording "Breath of Life," she couldn't hide her excitement about writing an anthem and drew inspiration from the perspective of Charlize Theron's Evil Queen Ravenna or getting to spend the day working with a 60-person choir in London's historic Abbey Road Studios, under the stewardship of American film composer James Newton Howard that she "almost cried" during the making of the tune.
"We went in and demoed the track, these big, clattering drums, huge bass sounds and everything was very intense and then we sent that to the guys in LA who composed it. And it was amazing to see the music we played being turned into this amazing orchestral thing," Welch continued: "You feel in a bit of a way like you're kind of making it up as you go along, and then when you see it done, laid out before you in such a beautiful, orchestral fashion, it's really incredible... When the baritones came in, I nearly wept, it was so emotional."
Besides capturing the 'Ceremonials' songstress Welch belting out the song and her bandmates lying down the soaring arrangement and the process of recording the single backed by a booming orchestra and a keening chorus, the black and white video features scenes from the film. And much like the song, it packs a punch. You can practically feel Welch's emotion as she brings "Breath" to life, and for a song so massive, the video provides viewers with a rather intimate look into its creation. Combine that with the fact that the clip and the song perfectly match the film's epic, ethereal scope, and the anticipation to see the final product only grows.

Florence And The Machine have posted their new video for "Never Let Me Go," the fourth single from English indie rock band's latest second studio album "Ceremonials," an album absolutely packed with big, grand ballads. In its new video, a newly gothified frontwoman Florence Welch indulges in a bit of ice-rink romance, and things don't turn out too well. Upon the release of the video, critics praised Welch's gothic look and the video's dark atmosphere.
Musically, "Never Let Me Go" is a downtempo power and piano ballad with elements of R&B and pop music. It has a piano-led instrumentation accompanied by thumping drums while backing vocals repeatedly sing "never let me go" throughout the song. Many critics noted similarities between the song and materials by other artists including Enya, Evanescence and Ryan Tedder-produced songs. The song received mostly positive reviews by critics who praised Welch's vocals and its balladry nature.
Lyrically, the theme of the song revolves around the sea and the ocean, and the song also talks about sin and redemption. Speaking about the song, Welch told Digital Spy, "The gospel thing comes from my obsession with hymns. I'm drawn to anything that has a hymnal quality, be it Spiritualized or dusty old albums by Georgian choirs." Welch takes us to the dark side in her latest video, and this isn't the video for you if you like closure and certainty.
The promo was directed by Tabitha Denholm and stars 'The Twilight Saga' actor Jamie Campbell Bower, who plays Welch's love interest. The clip match the almost supernatural tone of the song and sees Welch in a black hoodie as she enjoys a good time with a boy she met in a dark place. The pair together skating and shots of a dirty water trickling down Welch's face and hands are shown. The joy ends as soon as it starts, leading her to be covered in black gooey substance, and pouring from her mouth before she appears to melt away to nothing.

Florence + The Machine unveiled a searing new live video for their latest creation "Lover to Lover," the most soulful track from English indie pop band's newly released sophomore record "Ceremonials." According to their official website, the frontwoman Florence Welch wants listeners to get lost in their songs, telling, "It's something overwhelming and all-encompassing that fills you up, and you're either going to explode with it, or you're just going to disappear."
While the majority of Florence + The Machine's music videos tend to lean toward the theatrical side, the powerhouse singer's visual for "Lover To Lover" concentrates less on fancy camera work and more on capturing raw talent delivered during a flawless performance. Directed by Arni and Kinski, the clip shows Welch belting out the catchy tune while her band-mates accompanied her vocals with just a harp, guitar and keyboard. It's all about mood, lighting and Welch's impassioned vocals.
Welch's lyrics on "Ceremonials" are a bit on the darker side, and this video follows suit. As Welch wails, "There's no salvation for me, no," she and her band are enveloped in shadows; Welch's voice is nearly impeccable, clearly exercising the ability to draw in anyone who is listening, and the lighting on stage just adds to the striking effect her voice has on the audience. "Lover To Lover" puts the viewer in an all-access, front row seat at a live Florence + The Machine performance. Melodramatic lighting and thoughtful close-ups of sparkly harps mimic the tone of the song's emotionally charged tale.
The lighting effects evoke the dark moodiness of Welch's words. The darkness of both the stage and the lyrics provides a sharp contrast to the bright, sunny sound of the keyboards and harp. Conversely, the happier instrumentals reflect the acceptance of the rest of Welch's chorus. Welch gives her all throughout the performance, but she really starts to lets loose in the final bridge. We finally get to see her signature ethereal dancing, which she uses to signify the closing the notes. Additionally, Welch's vocals are at their most powerful in the song's conclusion. She begins at a soft stage whisper and gradually builds to a soaring crescendo.

Florence + the Machine have unveiled a dark music video this past Friday, for "No Light No Light," the second single from English indie rock band's new sophomore effort "Ceremonials." The frontwoman Florence Welch and her band have landed themselves in hot water after allegations their latest video promotes racial stereotypes and demonizes a religion, The music criticism from around the blogosphere debate over suggestions that it has a racist subtext.
"No Light, No Light" was the first song penned by Welch and Isabella Summers for the album during the tour in Amsterdam. The song begins with lyrics talking about fighting with snakes, and it was one of the songs where Welch sets aside her usual flighty, dreamy, gothy lyrical go-to's ghosts, graveyards, devils, angels, myths, drowning for something a bit more personal. Musically, the song exudes utter strength; lyrically, Welch is on her knees.
Backed by a live choir, Welch showed off her vocal prowess as she rocked out to "No Light, No Light" and she told NME: "Most of my influences have been male singers and the people I grew up watching perform were all these garage punk bands who went to Camberwell Art College with male singers who were almost trying to exorcise the audience. So when I write songs like 'No Light, No Light', I'm thinking about the rhythm and the chant and the aggression rather than the melodic mellifluousness of it."
The video, directed by Iceland-based duo Arni & Kinski, seems suggested a flirtation with dark magic, but any fascination Welch has with the occult is no longer the stuff of Manor Party games. There's some seriously life-threatening juju going on and as we watch Welch belt out the song from a skyscraper's rooftop, while elsewhere - perhaps far out of the range of her cannon-blast voice - a man painted black is convulsing through the steps of a voodoo ritual. The clip touches on the fine line between spiritual ecstasy and reckless abandon, is exploring a territory between Christianity and voodoo spirituality. It does not shy away from matching the music's melodramatic intensity.

Following that recent weekend remix, Florence and the Machine is once again dolling out a masquerade-set clip for their the newly released gloriously uplifting track "Shake It Out," the lead single proper from Florence Welch and her mysterious mechanical band's upcoming sophomore effort "Ceremonials." Welch became a bigger-than-indie darling when their debut album "Lungs" burst into unlikely mainstream success. In the nearly five minute technicolor blast, Welch splits her time mourning and dancing her way through a stately psychedelic costume party at a masquerade ball.
This gospelly pop tune is about having a hangover and wanting to shake it out, and it features a churchy organ and concludes with Welch roaring, "It's hard to dance with the devil on your back. So shake him off!" Welch explained: "I wanted to just shake something out, shake out these regrets, shake out these things that haunt you. It was one of those songs that came in about half an hour and when you've got a hangover, it is almost like a hangover cure. You're like, thank you!"
Given the track's bursting vocal moments, "Shake It Out" could have lent itself to something far more grandiose visually. But Florence and the Machine have kept it relatively low-key. Kind of. I'm using relatively very loosely here. The track's music video is still an over-the-top affair filled with Old World imagery and glitter-covered dresses and suits. But it's not quite as outrageous as it could have been, even if things do get really dramatic at times. I guess I was picturing something more arena-sized, though maybe that's because the track is so goddamn huge.
The video is as gorgeous and ethereal as the song itself, features Welch at a Shakespearian masked ball, dressed in a long red gown. She traded only a few of her Stevie Nicksian chiffon gowns for something a little wilder, tighter, for this Annie Lennox-directed clip. In it, the singer is equal parts naughty and nice as she cavorts between dancing, drinking, shaking it out and shrinking away during this fairy tale party. She flows between beautiful people in masquerade masks and drops in on a seance. This is easily one of Welch's best vocal performances to date, and the imagery will leave a mark on fans and aspiring fans to boot.

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.