Reading Festival 2024: FLO talk about their debut album ‘Access All Areas’ and their mission to revive R&B girl groups

FLO have spoken to NME about their debut album ‘Access All Areas’ after their first-ever set at Reading Festival.

On the opening day of the festival (August 23), the trio performed a string of their most popular tracks – including their viral breakthrough single, ‘Cardboard Box’ – on the BBC Radio 1 stage. Despite being plagued with technical issues that caused their microphones to cut off several times, FLO powered through and had a successful set.

The highly-anticipated record is expected to come this November via Warner Music, serving as the follow-up to their critically acclaimed debut EP ‘The Lead’. They told NME at Reading that they will be exploring themes of “self-love [and] relationships with a whole spectrum of different people, work, friends, boyfriends, partners”. Having now been a group for five years, they want to show how they’re “so strong” and “so together”.

As they prepare for their London headline show next week (August 29) as well as being support acts on Kehlani‘s upcoming North American leg of the ‘Crash World Tour’, the band reflected on their place in R&B music. Members Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas and Renée Downer told NME about their hope to be known as the start of the revival of girl groups within the genre.

Hi FLO! What was it like performing for the first time at Reading and Leeds Festival?

Stella Quaresma: “The crowd was incredible.”

Renée Downer: “For our first performance, we would have hoped that everything would have come together in terms of production. But, the crowd gave us life, and they kept us going, which is the most important thing.”

You did a mash-up of your song ‘Summertime’ with Aaliyah‘s ‘Try Again’ – why did you want to pay homage to the late icon?

Quaresma: “I feel like she was the first – maybe not the first, but she was such an it-girl. She did so many things for people like us who love R&B, so thank you, Aaliyah.”

Jorja Douglas: “Also, Timbaland on the production, and that’s so influential as well, especially to our sound, so it makes sense to incorporate it into our set.

You guys have been plauded by the likes of Victoria Monét, JoJo, SZA and more – how is it like getting the respect of your fellow R&B it-girls?

Downer: “It’s the best type of compliment. The respect is just so lovely to receive that from people we actually look up to.”

One of the biggest co-signs you got was from Kelly Rowland – what was that like?

Douglas: “We’ve actually met her in real life a couple times, and every time, she’s just always so kind and just wants to help [us]. [She] wants to know how it’s going and wants to share some advice, so she’s so genuine and down-to-earth. It’s been really nice meeting her.”

How do you feel about people comparing you to Destiny’s Child?

Douglas: “I think our work ethic is comparable. If anything, their work ethic is a lot more extreme than ours. But on that level, the work ethic and the attention to detail – that is what we take from Destiny’s Child.”

You’re releasing your debut album, ‘Access All Areas’, later this year – why now?

Downer: “It’s finally ready. We wanted to be really open, dig deep, and write music that actually had meaning for us. So the title explains itself, really.”

What themes do you explore on the album?

Douglas: “Self-love, love…”

Quaresma: “Relationships with a whole spectrum of different people; work, friends, boyfriends, partners…”

Douglas: “You can interpret the songs [however you like]. We may be referring to a boy or a man or whatever, but you can interpret it about your boss. It could be about your boss, it could be about your colleague, it could be about your mum, it could be about your dog. It could be about anything, whatever feels right for you, but you’re gonna vibe [to it].”

Who was an inspiration on the record?

Downer: “Brandy. We love her, and one song on the album particularly just has that essence of R&B. We wouldn’t know her this well.”

Quaresma: “We want her on it so much.”

What statement do you wanna make with ‘Access All Areas’?

Douglas: “There’s just so much to know.”

Quaresma: “Multifaceted. That you can go to the album to feel a whole range of things, you know. Feel like a baddie, feel hard, feel like other people are going through the same things, feel like you’re strong. There’s a lot going on.”

You’re going on tour with Kehlani soon!

Douglas: “In two weeks!”

Yes! Are you ready?

Quaresma: “Spiritually, we’re ready. In the flesh, we’re getting there.”

Downer: “I think we are ready. We know what we want to get out of it, so we’re excited to experience it, put the work in, learn from it and then just move forward, have our album out and go on from there.”

Douglas: “We can’t wait to explore other parts of the world. Even after just getting a taste from Japan of what, you know, the difference in cultures and the difference in fans was so refreshing. We can’t wait to go to Brazil. We can’t wait to actually do a show in Europe, like a proper show […] Like that’s embarrassing.”

When you look back on your career a few years from now – what do you hope you’ve done?

Downer: “Just the revival of R&B girl groups because they’ve been gone for a long time.

Douglas: “We want to be known for, you know, [having the] R&B album of the year…”

Quaresma: “[Being] trailblazers…”

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