Florence writes her best songs when shes drunk or has a hangover, because thats when the freedom, the feral music comes, creating itself wildly from the fragments gathered in her notebooks and in her head. Youre lucid, she explains, but youre not really there. Youre floating through your own thoughts, and you can pick out what you need. I like those weird connections in the universe. I feel that lifes like a consistent acid trip, those times when things keep coming back.

Florence herself is a mass of contradictions: shes tough yet shes terrified, a bundle of nerves and passion, of darkness and pure joy. I feel things quite intensely, which is why the music has to be so intense. Im either really sad or really happy, Im tired or completely manic. Thats when Im at my most creative, but its also dangerous for me. I feel I could write some good songs, or break some hearts. Or tables. Or glasses.

As a performer she can seem fearless, but shes also far too quick to pass judgement on herself. This is the woman, after all who got into Camberwell art college by making a huge floral sign telling herself You are a twat. She says shes a geek, who loses all control when in love. Shes also something increasingly rare and precious in a time of karaoke pop: an artist who has found her own, authentic voice.

. Some compare her to Kate Bush. Youll also find touches of Tom Waits and Nick Cave in her dark visions, and if you heard a little of Bjork too, shed find it a compliment. But mainly, Florence is out on her own: an exhilarating place to be, she points out, but also a little scary.

Her debut album Lungs is made of harps, choirs, drums, elevator shafts, bits of metal, love, death, fireworks, string quartets, stamping, sighing, strange electronic wailing, lambs, lions, sick, broken glass, blood, moon, stars, drink, coffins, teeth, water, wedding dresses.. and the silences in between. The songs are full of Gothic

Musician, Entertainers, Musical Performance, Performances, Live performances, Celebrity Singer-Songwriter, Music,