Florence and the Machine is the recording name of Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her voice. Musically Florence and the Machine's sound is generally referred to as soul inspired indie. Florence and The Machine's music has received praise across the British music media, especially from the BBC who have played a large part in Florence and The Machine's rise to prominence by bringing them into the spotlight as part of BBC Introducing. This has led to her playing Glastonbury as well as Reading and Leeds festivals and T in the Park. The band's debut album, Lungs, was released on 6th July 2009 and was at the number 2 position its first five weeks on the charts, behind Michael Jackson. The band's debut single was "Kiss with a Fist". The song will be used in the soundtrack of the upcoming film Jennifer's Body. The follow up single "Dog Days are Over" was recorded with no instruments in a studio the "size of a loo". Florence told the BBC's Mercury Prize website that she would celebrate her nomination for the 2009 award by folding clothes.

Florence Welch

Florence Welch is the daughter of Evelyn Welch, an American art historian and author and formerly a Studio 54 regular, and Nick Welch, who works in advertising. She is the granddaughter of Colin Welch, a former deputy editor of The Irish Times and the niece of parodist Craig Brown.

Welch grew up in south London. When she was 13 years old her mother moved in with her next-door neighbour and his three teenage children. According to Welch "We get on brilliantly now, but it was a nightmare then. I just used to stay in my room and dance around.”

As an infant Welch had difficulty sleeping and her parents tried to get her to go to sleep by pushing her in a wheelcart and playing works by The Smiths, The Soft Machine, R.E.M., and The Go-Go's. As a small girl she sang to her grandmother and in the school choir. She would also dance on top of her father's vinyl wooden chest to gramophone records by Love, The Incredible String Band, The Smiths and The Velvet Underground that were inside the chest. Welch's mother liked Tom Jones and The Monkees and Welch says her singing style resulted from listening to a combination of these acts.

She also grew up listening to The White Stripes and Kate Bush. She started performing at family weddings and funerals ('mainly funerals') at the age of 7 and persuaded her parents to let her have singing lessons at age 11.

In school Welch was labelled as dyslexic and dyspraxic. She was often admonished by teachers for singing, a habit which she was unable to stop.

In her teens, Welch became a fan of Nirvana and Green Day. She dressed in a "punk" style and attended punk rock concerts. While attending secondary school at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London, Welch was in a punk "musical collective" entitled The Toxic Cockroaches.

Welch grew up around Renaissance painting and was fascinated by Mantegna's Circumcision Of Christ, and by various paintings of the martyrdom of St Agatha, who had her breasts cut off. Welch attended Camberwell College of Art where she "did Foundation Art and got in to do illustration". She attended concerts by art college bands. These gigs would influence the "more outrageous" side of Florence and The Machine's performances. Welch left Camberwell after a year and a half to peruse her professional music career.

Welch says she writes metaphorical songs that are "stories with consequences and weird morality issues," She gets her material from a variety of sources and experiences. "Dog Days Are Over" was inspired by an art installation, "Kiss With a Fist" is about "giving as good as you get.”.

Welch, a self described "real geek", is an avid book reader who likes to completely lose herself in weekend "adventures". As of December 2008, she lived in the Camberwell neighbourhood in south London where she was brought up. She is happy with her current life: "'I've got my ideal job. I like to sing, I like to dance, I like to bang drums and dress up, and someone pays me – it's incredible".

The Machine

According to Welch "The name Florence and the Machine started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn't have a name, so I thought "Okay, I'll be Florence Robot is a Machine," before realising that name was so long it'd drive me mad".

The Machine is Florence's backing band and consists of several musicians, which previously included Devonte Hynes from Lightspeed Champion. The current line-up consists of Robert Ackroyd (guitar), Christopher Lloyd Hayden (drums), Isabella Summers (keyboards) and Tom Monger (harp).

Florence and the Machine are managed by Mairead Nash who is one half of the DJ outfit Queens of Noize. Nash decided to manage the group when at one of Nash's club nights an inebriated Welch dragged Nash into the toilets and sang an Etta James song to her.

Lungs

Florence and the Machine released their debut album Lungs on 6 July, 2009 in the United Kingdom. The album has peaked at the number 2 position in the United Kingdom and the number 13 position in Europe. As of 6 August the album had sold over 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom and by the 10 August it had been at the number 2 position for 5 straight weeks. Following its 25 July release for download in the United States the album debuted at the number 17 position on the Billboard "Heatseekers" chart. The album will be released physically in the U.S. on 20 October by Island Records.

Much of the the material on the album was written as reaction to what turned out to be a temporary breakup with Welch's current boyfriend. Welch says "He prefers me not to talk about it. It's funny then singing about it."

Touring

Florence and the Machine burst onto the London scene playing a handful of gigs in and around London for the likes of The Lock Tavern, Blue Flowers and Filthy Few.

Florence and the Machine are part of the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards tour. Welch said that she plans a "pretty theatrical" performance. Welch is planning to bring "as many weird clothes" as possible with the idea of deciding what to wear before going on stage.

In recent months, the group has played the Concerts for Teenage Cancer Trust charity event at the Royal Albert Hall in March 2009.. Florence and The Machine supported Blur for their 26 June comeback performance at the MEN Arena in Manchester.. They played at the Lovebox festival this July 18th and 19th. In July 2009, the group was supporting Duran Duran.

The group has been confirmed for perform at the 2009 Glastonbury Festival, Reading and Leeds festival and the T in the Park festival.

Critical acclaim

On top of the BBC praise they have received a large amount of support from NME magazine who included them in their annual NME Awards Tour for 2009. They supported White Lies, Friendly Fires and Glasvegas on the tour which included venues such as Academies and Universities. She also appeared on the front cover of The Guide subsection to The Guardian. Florence collected the Critics' Choice Award at the Brit Awards in February 2009. This category focuses on new talent and is voted for by a panel of music industry experts. Florence and the Machine came third in the BBC's Sound of 2009.