Florence + the Machine

Thanks to a dramatic frontwoman who seldom held back vocally, the UK group Florence and the Machine became breakout stars in the 2010s. The core of the band was singer Florence Welch and keyboardist Isabella Summers, both Londoners whose connections go back to childhood (when a pre-teen Summers was Welch's sister's babysitter). The two originally began separate careers, Welch as a singer and Summers as a producer/remixer, until they began writing songs together; their name was based on the original jokey aliases of "Florence Robot" and "Isa Machine." One song was carried over from Welch's previous band Ashok: Taken from that band's one album Plans "Happy Slap" was reworked with the Machine and retitled "Kiss With a Fist." The theme of the song--about a couple whose love is so intense that they cause psychological violence on each other--was typical of the edgy romantic themes that Welch chose to pursue. That song was the first of six singles released from Florence and the Machine's 2009 debut, Lungs, on which they worked with a half-dozen producers and more than 30 guest musicians.  The album ruled the UK charts for the next two years, topping out at Number One and also going platinum in the US. This proved a cue for Welch to up the level of drama on the next album, Ceremonials, which was steeped in spiritual themes. Appropriately, it was released on Halloween 2011. It too was a worldwide hit and as part of the promotion, the group appeared on MTV Unplugged in 2012. Along with stripped-down versions of the hits, the show and its accompanying album included covers of Otis Redding's "Try a Little Tenderness" and Johnny Cash/June Carter's "Jackson," with Josh Homme doing the duet honors. She did another notable duet in 2012, singing "Gimme Shelter" with the Rolling Stones at the O2 Arena. Worn out from touring, she took a year's hiatus in 2013-14, and later said she'd had "a bit of a nervous breakdown" during this time. As a result, the new songs she was writing were more directly personal and less based in mystical themes. Producer Markus Dravs (of Coldplay and Bjork fame) also encouraged her to continue the rootsy direction on the Unplugged covers. The sound on the third album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful remained huge and dramatic, though largely made by full string/horn sections and vocal choirs rather than electronics. It became her biggest hit to date, finally getting her a Number One in America; and nine of the eleven songs appeared in a concept video, The Odyssey which metaphorically told of a recovery from heartbreak. The fourth Florence & the Machine album, High as Hope continued the move to more personal songs, sometimes explicitly so: Different songs concern her grandmother's suicide ("The End of Love"), her mixed relationship with her sister ("Grace") and her teenage anorexia ("Hunger"); while "Patricia" addresses the more upbeat topic of Patti Smith. It continued Welch's run of US and UK hits.