Florence + the Machine are gearing up to release their new album, Dance Fever, later this week. In anticipation of the LP, lead singer Florence Welch sat down for a chat with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Ahead of the full interview, Consequence is exclusively premiering a clip in which Welch remembers thinking that drinking was a requisite part of being a rock star during the early days of the band. She is now eight years sober.
“I had thought that the chaos in my life and the drinking and everything was fuel for my creativity,” Welch explained. “And that was how you were a rock and roll star, that was how you did it. That was the brief. Because, as a young woman coming out in the indie scene, you didn’t want people to think you were girly or sensitive. And it was like, ‘If I can drink as hard as these people can and if I can drink them under the table, that’s how I make my place in this world.'”
She continued, “In the South London scene that I came from, that was how you did it. The gig was [on] either the side of the drinking. And then, it was the drinking before, the drinking during, the drinking after. And if you could hit the sweet spot where that made the gig really good, that was great. Sometimes, you missed it. You’re just throwing a bucket of paint on someone and screaming, and that’s the show.”
Welch’s full interview with Lowe airs later today at 1:00 p.m. ET on Apple Music.
Dance Fever is out this Friday, May 13th. Ahead of the release, Florence + the Machine have shared “My Love,” “Heaven Is Here,” the Song of the Week honoree “King,” and “Free.” The latter features a music video starring Bill Nighy as Welch’s anxiety.
Catch Florence + the Machine on tour this fall with a rotating cast of openers including Arlo Parks, Sam Fender, King Princess, Yves Tumor, Japanese Breakfast, and Wet Leg. Tickets are available now via Ticketmaster.
