Hear Florence and the Machine’s Sweeping ‘Stand By Me’ Cover
Florence and the Machine inject Ben E. King’s pop standard “Stand By Me” with a blast of cinematic grandeur in the new trailer for the upcoming video game, Final Fantasy XV.
The band’s cover begins at the 1:10 mark, after a harrowing opening — complete with melodramatic choir and orchestra — that sets the stakes for the latest installment in the long-running franchise.
Florence and the Machine open their cover of “Stand By Me” with distant percussion, and the soft pluck of a harp, over which singer Florence Welch starts to croon the track’s indelible melody. The song slowly swells as the gameplay intensifies, with Welch soon belting beautifully over a sparse, but striking string arrangement.
Final Fantasy XV is scheduled to hit shelves September 30th.
As for Florence and the Machine, the group has a handful of North American tour dates scheduled for this year, after spending much of 2015 on the road in support of their latest album, How Big How Blue How Beautiful. The group’s next slate of concerts begins May 13th in Miami, and includes festival sets at Gulf Shores, Alabama’s Hangout Festival in May and Dover, Delaware’s Firefly Festival in June.