Florence + The Machine to play ‘Lungs’ in full at orchestral London show
Florence + The Machine are set to play their debut album ‘Lungs’ in full at a special orchestral show in London – find all the details below.
The band will make their BBC Proms debut at the historic Royal Albert Hall on September 11, marking Florence Welch and co’s only UK date of the year.
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Welch announced the concert in a new interview with British Vogue. “When [the invitation] came in, they were like, ‘We know you’re off, but would you…?’ and I was like, ‘Yes!’,” she told the publication.
The outlet noted that the frontwoman was “currently on the hunt for old medieval English instruments” for the upcoming gig, which is dubbed ‘Florence + The Machine – Symphony Of Lungs’.
“I’m so honoured,” Welch continued. “The background to life in my house is classical music, and especially the more obscure things. So it’s a really exciting thing to be asked to do – the Proms is just so special.”
Released in 2009, the BRIT Award-winning ‘Lungs’ features the singles ‘Dog Days Are Over’, ‘Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)’, ‘Cosmic Love’ and ‘You’ve Got The Love’.
But Welch explained that was she keen to revisit the “swampy, south London, guitar-y” cuts from the record. “‘Girl With One Eye’ and ‘My Boy Builds Coffins’ and ‘Kiss With A Fist’,” she said. “It’s actually the ones you’d think wouldn’t work orchestrally that I’m interested to figure out.”
A listing on the Royal Albert Hall website reads: “For her Proms debut, [Welch] joins Jules Buckley and his Orchestra for a celebration of ‘Lungs’, and of the compelling poetry and music of this singular artist in whom the darkly gothic meets all that glistens.”
Tickets go on sale on May 18 – you’ll be able to buy yours here. They are priced between £26 to £80 (plus booking fee).
The concert will be broadcast live on BBC Radio 3 and recorded for a future airing on BBC Radio 1. It’ll also be shown on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer.
Welch said that looking back on ‘Lungs’ 15 years on was “a bit like reading an old diary” of a “messy, chaotic period of time”.
She added: “I think it’s just that psychological thing of knowing when Florence and the Machine was starting to pick up the pace. To be able to go back and revisit it from a more established place… it’s sort of healing, in a way.”
Florence + The Machine released their fifth and most recent album, ‘Dance Fever’, in 2022. Shortly before it arrived, Welch explained that the record sounded like “‘Lungs’ with more self-knowledge”.
In other news, the singer has collaborated with Taylor Swift on a song called ‘Florida!!!’ from the latter’s new album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’.
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Tom Skinner
NME
