Florence and the Machine is an alternative rock band. It is the recording name of Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her voice.Musically Florence and the Machine's sound is generally referred to as soul-inspired indie. Florence and The Machine's music has received praise across the British music media, especially from the BBC who played a large part in Florence and The Machine's rise to prominence by promoting her as part of BBC Introducing. This led to her playing a number of music festivals in 2008, including Glastonbury as well as Reading and Leeds and T in the Park. The band's debut album, Lungs was released on 6 July 2009, and was at the number 2 position for its first five weeks in the charts, behind Michael Jackson.

Spin Magazine gave Lungs four out of five possible stars and wrote, "You’ve gotta hand it to the girl: She always makes you feel something" SPIN.com

Florence Welch

Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986 in London) is the daughter of Evelyn Welch, Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean for Arts at Queen Mary, University of London and author and formerly a Studio 54 regular, and Nick Welch, who works in advertising. She is the granddaughter of Colin Welch, a satirist and former deputy editor of The Telegraph and the niece of parodist Craig Brown.

When Welch was 13 years old her mother moved in with her next door neighbour and his three teenage children. According to Welch "We get on brilliantly now, but it was a nightmare then. I just used to stay in my room and dance around.

Welch's fascination with terror and doom was intensified by the death of her grandparents within a few years of each other. At age 10 Welch witnessed her grandfather's deterioration, and her maternal grandmother, also an art historian, committed suicide when Welch was 14.

Welch says she is prone to "falling into severe holes” that leave her crying on the floor. Welch used ecstasy at age 16. Today Welch tries to stay away from drugs. Welch has been diagnosed with dyslexia and dysmetria.
 

Early music interests and career

At age 13 Welch found solace in the music of Hole, Nirvana, Green Day, Kate Bush, Annie Lennox, the Velvet Underground and Celine Dion.

As a teenager she was the frontwoman for "Toxic Cockroaches" and "Ashok". Feeling she was in "the wrong band" she got out of a contract with Ashok by resigning.
 

The Machine

According to Welch "The name Florence and the Machine started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought "Okay, I'll be Florence Robot is a Machine," before realizing that name was so long it'd drive me mad". In 2006 Welch's performances in small London venues as "Florence Robot is a Machine" began to attract notice.

The Machine is Florence's backing band and consists of several musicians, which previously included Devonte Hynes of Lightspeed Champion and Test Icicles. The current line-up consists of Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums), Isabella Summers (keyboards) and Tom Monger (harp).

Florence and the Machine are managed by Mairead Nash who is one half of the DJ outfit Queens of Noize. Nash decided to manage the group when at one of Nash's club nights an inebriated Welch dragged Nash into the toilets and sang an Etta James song to her.
 

Lungs (2009)

Florence and the Machine released their debut album Lungs on 6 July, 2009  in the United Kingdom. The album has peaked at the number 2 position in the UK and the number 13 position in Europe. As of 6 August the album had sold over 100,000 copies in the UK and by 10 August it had been at the number 2 position for five straight weeks.Following its 25 July 2009 release for download in the United States the album debuted at the number 17 position on the Billboard "Heatseekers" chart. The album was released physically in the U.S. on 20 October by Island Records. It was rated on New Zealand morning talk show Breakfast as a three-and-a-half star album.

Much of the material on the album was written as reaction to what turned out to be a temporary break-up with Welch's current boyfriend. Welch says "He prefers me not to talk about it. It's funny then singing about it."

The debut single was "Kiss with a Fist". The song was used in the soundtrack of the film Jennifer's Body. The follow-up single "Dog Days are Over" was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo". The next singles were "Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)" and then "Drumming Song". Recently Florence and the Machine filmed a video for her cover of Candi Staton's "You Got The Love". In a recent interview with Dermot O'Leary, Welch said that hopefully "Cosmic Love" will be another single.
 

Touring

Florence and the Machine burst onto the London scene playing a handful of gigs in and around London for the likes of The Lock Tavern, Blue Flowers and Filthy Few.

Florence and the Machine were part of the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards tour. Welch said that she planned a "pretty theatrical" performance. Welch was planning to bring "as many weird clothes" as possible with the idea of deciding what to wear before going on stage.

The group played the Concerts for Teenage Cancer Trust charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2009. Florence and The Machine supported Blur for their 26 June comeback performance at the MEN Arena in Manchester. They played at the Lovebox festival this July 18 and 19. In July 2009, the group was supporting Duran Duran.

The group performed at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, Reading and Leeds festival, Electric Picnic in Co. Laois, Ireland (where she is in negotiation to move her December gig to a stadium size arena due to the massive popularity she has in the Irish capital) and the T in the Park festival.

Florence and The Machine began the UK leg of the Lungs Tour 2009 on the 17th September 2009, starting in Bristol. On the 27 October the group played its first official New York City show[24] and appeared on the television program Late Night With David Letterman. A new tour is scheduled to begin in December, extending to Australia and New Zealand in January 2010 for St Jerome's Laneway Festival.

Critical acclaim

On top of the BBC praise they have received a large amount of support from NME magazine who included them in their annual NME Awards Tour for 2009. They supported White Lies, Friendly Fires and Glasvegas on the tour which included venues such as Academies and Universities. The Times described her as "the most peculiar and most highly acclaimed female singer of the moment" and "the latest in a line of great English pop eccentrics". She also appeared on the front cover of The Guide subsection to The Guardian. Florence collected the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards in February 2009. This category focuses on new talent and is voted for by a panel of music industry experts. Florence and the Machine came third in the BBC's Sound of 2009.
In 2009 she covered Beyoncé's song "Halo" on the BBC1 Live Lounge; host Jo Whiley stated that it was one of the best covers they have ever had in the Live Lounge.