First Time Fridays - An introduction to Indie by Florence + the Machine

‘Lungs’ by Florence + the Machine definitely wasn’t the first album I owned, but it was the first one I bought myself, so I think it still counts. Before I had any conscious taste in music, I would listen to all the Now That’s What I Call Music albums (do they still make those?), playing the same 3 songs on repeat because I didn’t care for half of the music on there. But then, Florence + The Machine burst onto the scene, with 'Rabbit Heart' playing out on 4music multiple times in a day, and captivating 11-year-old me who hadn’t heard anything like it before.

Perhaps it was the dreamy vocals, or folky sound that stood out so much from the onslaught of pop that drew me in, or the mad hatter’s tea party themed music video (which I was obsessed with). Either way, I knew this band was something special, something worth paying attention to. Maybe I wouldn’t want to skip any of the songs on their album, like I was so used to doing on those jumbled compilation CD’s.

And so ‘Lungs’ was my first album that I was proud to own. I would spend hours listening to the disc spinning round and round in my little pink Sony CD Player, miming along to ‘Dog Days’ and ‘Drumming Song’. The album was what first intrigued me in Indie music, and still to this day I would call Florence the Indie Queen. She paved her music career alongside the likes of Adele, Duffy and Lily Allen and managed to maintain originality by swapping out trumpets and guitar for a harp. I remember listening to ‘Cosmic Love’ arguably the most glittering song on the album, and thinking ‘I want to learn how to play the harp!’

It was so refreshing to listen to this new sound and the use of different instruments in the album. The tracks were often haunting and cinematic, and the songs ‘Howl’ and ‘Blinding’ genuinely gave me chills. It was like listening to a movie. For me, Florence’s music had EVERYTHING. Drama, sparkling vocals and catchy chorus’s.

In the years that followed the release of the debut album, front-woman Florence became a mascot for festival culture. Her image influenced most young girls, with so many of the girls at my school (myself included) turning up at the gates wearing flower crowns and crimped hair. Her nymph-like appearance transcended into her performances, with the singer belting out her ballads on stage whilst bare-foot and wearing something floaty. Her stage presence has always been one of her strong-suits.

'You’ve got the love' shook the British music scene, with the hit-single being nominated for a Brit Award. The indie-rock rendition of Candi Staton’s 1986 original firmly grounded Welch’s presence in the music industry and propelled her to popularity, and when she played it live at the 2010 Brit Awards with Dizzee Rascal, 'You’ve got the Dirtee Love' became an instant British pop-culture favourite. I think I will always be in love with that performance.

‘Lungs’ was my gateway into listening to more varied music, especially the Indie scene, and even led to me purchasing the bands second album ‘Ceremonials’ which was just as, if not more, beautiful and impressive. Florence + The Machine was such a massive influence on me as a young girl discovering my music taste, and I will always appreciate the impact that that first album had on me and the British music scene.

- Kezia

Listen to Lungs here.