Watch Florence Welch Get Emotional in ‘St. Jude’ Video
Florence Welch has kept herself out of the spotlight for a few years following the release and promotion of 2011’s Ceremonials, but she’s back and stronger than ever with “St. Jude,” the third full song and video off Florence and the Machine‘s upcoming LP How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.
The track is a subdued departure for Welch, whose sound has been notable for how she wields her massive voice against baroque pop orchestrations. The gorgeous clip sees Welch wandering the rainy streets alone as she sings about “the patron saint of lost causes.” At one point, she encounters a man who asks, “Why are you traveling alone, are you lost?” The reflective, deeply spiritual song and video’s end sees Welch falling to her knees with her arms raised towards the sky.
“St. Jude” follows the much heavier, fiery single “What Kind of Man” and a clip of her dancing with a doppelgänger to the orchestral “How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful.” With the album set to be released on June 2nd, Welch is already scheduled to make a number of festival appearances, including Coachella, Bonnaroo and Governors Ball.
Markus Dravs produced the highly-anticipated album and was chosen because Welch loved his work on Björk’s Homogenic. “He’s good with big sounds, and I like big sounds,” said the singer in a statement. “With Markus, I wanted to make something that was big but that had gentleness to it, that had a warmth, that was rooted.”
How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful is now available for pre-order.