Florence + The Machine, an indie rock band from London, first hit the music scene with a bang in July 2009 when their first album Lungs debuted at number two in the UK albums charts. Since then the band have gone from strength to strength, performing at all major UK festivals including Glastonbury, T in the Park and V Festival. So far the band has two number one albums and, as of July 2012, one number one single 'Spectrum' under their belt.
While Florence’s eccentric live performances and “dark, robust and romantic” music style may not be to everyone’s taste, her formidable level of creativity can hardly be denied. After their trailer caught fire during a European tour, Florence was quoted to have said: "You could hear the harp's strings ping in the fire. Strange sound. We recorded it and I want to use it in a song."
Perhaps her innate sense of creativity can be pinned as one of the major keys to their success: Five times platinum debut album Lungs, released in July 2009, was an immediate success, eventually reached the number one spot some time later for two consecutive weeks. The following year it won Mastercard British Album of the Year at the 2010 BRIT awards. The album included the singles “Kiss with a Fist”, “Dog Days are Over” and “You’ve Got the Love” amongst others. Despite the success of the album, none of the singles released managed to reach the top spot in the singles charts. “Rabbit Heart” and “You’ve Got the Love” came the closest, reaching twelve and five respectively.
Two years later their second studio album was released; Ceremonials. Its popularity was clear from day one as it debuted at number one on the UK Album Chart and by December of that year it had gone platinum. The album won the band nominations for British Female Solo Artist and Mastercard British Album of the Year at the 2012 BRIT Awards. However, of the four singles released from the album by April 2012, only “Shake it Out” managed to climb the singles charts, peaking at number twelve.
This was until the band released “Spectrum” as their fifth single from the album, on the July 2nd, 2012. Two weeks later and after much speculation, “Spectrum” had climbed to the top of the singles charts making it the band’s first ever number one single!
They have since secured a second week at the top, and despite having suffered from a vocal chord injury this summer, Florence is now set to continue her tour over in the US. So congratulations to the band for scoring their first ever number one, we hope that this is the start of even greater things for Florence + The Machine.
