Florence + The Machine get magical on new album ‘Dance Fever’
Okay, girls. It’s time to grab our covens and head straight for the woods. This is the soundtrack of our cottagecore witchy girl summer. All you need to do to glean this fact out of the new Florence + The Machine album Dance Fever is pick any song and hit play. If you tell me you’ve listened to ‘Heaven Is Here’ or ‘Choreomania’ and don’t come out the other end wanting to cast a spell, I simply don’t believe you.
In all seriousness, Florence + The Machine has always kept an ethereal, naturalistic quality that weaves itself into her voice perfectly time and time again. This album is no different. I find that this record is further evidence that Florence Welch is an artist who grows and evolves, but doesn’t feel the need to “reinvent.” She has, and has always had, the sound and essence that draws people in from all walks.
Dance Fever really does hit like the perfect summer album, especially if you fancy yourself escaping to the countryside and connecting to the earth—or if you want to simply fantasise about it. From the very start, ‘King’ brings sweeping percussion and uplifting melodic flows that just make you want to skip through a field of tall grasses. ‘Cassandra’ and ‘My Love‘ are both classic Florence, showcasing her powerful vocals amid a scape of glittering ambience.
This isn’t to say that the album doesn’t have variation to it, in fact, it has it in spades. Perhaps even more so than some of her previous works. Listening to the album in one sitting might leave you racking your brain for the discernable hits and standouts, as all of the tracks are great. ‘Girls Against God’ is a sugar-sweet lyrical gem as she croons the stunningly grounded images, “And it’s good to be alive, crying into cereal at midnight” and “Listen to music from 2006 and feel kind of sick.” Songs like ‘Prayer Factory’ and ‘Back In Town’ are deep and sultry. I can picture the latter as a modern dance favourite in the making.
The choice to end the record with an Elvis tribute, ‘Morning Elvis’ struck me as an odd choice, but I almost can’t fault it after a listen, because the song is immaculate. It’s relaxed and melodic—exactly what you want to end the tidal force of an effort like this one.
At the risk of repeating myself: Dance Fever is sprinkled with magic. It’s a fairytale. A storybook. More than anything, it’s an album that feels complete. Welch leaves no stone unturned in the realm of musical yearning. She spends time delivering on the highs and the lows. Dance Fever is a record of love and patience, and it’s worth every moment it takes to listen.
Florence + The Machine’s new album, Dance Fever, is out today, Friday, May 13th, and you can find it on all streaming services.
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