The Liberation of Florence Welch: ‘It Was Humbling to Be Heartbroken’
It’s a scorching, sweaty Texas night in early October, and Florence and the Machine are finishing a frenzied headlining set of whirlwind art rock at the Austin City Limits Festival with their driving breakthrough hit, “Dog Days Are Over.” Midway into the tune, the group’s indefatigable, perennially auburn-haired frontwoman, Florence Welch, has an idea to beat the heat. “It’s fucking hot, so take off something you don’t need and wave it above your head like a flag,” she orders the crowd midway into the tune. Like a preacher, she exclaims, “Austin, you have been released!” Then the already barefoot singer joins them, removing first her white vest and then her golden shirt, until she is wearing only white bellbottoms and a bra. She leaps offstage and disappears into hundreds of outstretched hands in the causeway running through center of the audience.
The next morning, the 29-year-old Londoner describes her state of mind as “a little shell-shocked,” typical of the waking hours following any wild show, though she seems cheerful and relaxed, prone to mixing big belly laughs with astute and sobering observations about herself. Looking back on the night before, she clearly remembers why she stripped and made a cannonball for the crowd. “It’s about jumping off the cliff because you want people to feel free from judgment,” she says. “Rather than being anything titillating, it’s symbolic of letting go of inhibition and of being unashamed. … And it’s funny to see if security can keep up with me.” She laughs. To her, it’s scary, funny and joyous, all at the same time.
Earlier this year, Welch issued her own declaration of individuality, How Big How Blue How Beautiful, her third album, which contains powerful songs like the pounding “What Kind of Man” and urgent “Ship to Wreck,” both about her real-life frustrations with a breakdown of a relationship. “I felt stuck in something that wasn’t working,” she says. “Making the record and writing about it, I freed myself.” It’s a liberated feeling that has translated to her fans, and not just the nudists in Austin. The album’s deeply woven, lilting tales of doomed romance and redemption struck a chord with listeners, and the LP became Florence and the Machine‘s first-ever U.S. Number One, an integral part of what has become Welch’s biggest year ever. Bill Clinton even recently told her he was her fan.
Now her tour, which wraps Friday with a headlining set at Voodoo Fest in New Orleans, is more like a victory lap, and thanks to Welch’s dynamic stage presence, it’s proof that Florence and the Machine are one of rock’s best live acts. In Austin, as the 11-person Machine pumped out cinematic art rock, the frontwoman belted huge choruses, struck ballet poses and stalked the stage. By her own admission, it had been a long road to get to this point, but now she can look back at it with a new perspective.
In the period leading up to the recording of How Big How Blue How Beautiful, Welch was confused. Florence and the Machine had put out their platinum-selling second LP, Ceremonials, in 2011, scored a ubiquitous hit with “Shake It Out” (thanks to its infectious, sing-along-ready “whoa-ah-oh” chorus) and relentlessly conjured the record to life on the road, including a few U.S. stadiums with U2. But when it all wound down, the singer had to find herself again.