Florence + The Machine- Dance Fever

I implore you to explore this album for yourself and become immersed in this new fairytale world Welch has created with this Dance Fever character. I for one don’t see myself leaving it anytime soon.

I distinctly remember the lead up to Dance Fever’s first single, ‘King’, in late February of this year. It was a time of mass anxiety in the world, and Florence Welch’s return was a balm. Personally for me, she’s always been able to capture intricate feelings with ease through song, and she's done exactly the same with this new album.

Conflict and release are definitely the most prominent themes of the album - the conflicts of being in the spotlight, wanting your own separate life, the anxiety of living through a global pandemic. That want and need to let go, and just, well… dance. Welch was hugely inspired by the Choreomania ‘dancing plague’ of the 16th century in Europe, and the hope of reunions and togetherness that got her through the lockdowns of 2020.

There's definitely echoes of 2018’s High as Hope and 2015’s How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, but the production shift is notable, done by Welch, assisted by Dave Bayley of Glass Animals and renowned producer Jack Antonoff. The theatricality is assisted by gothic, creepy and glittering production, especially on the interludes Prayer Factory and Restraint, creating these bridges between the different acts of the album.

This album is truly peak Florence, and it comes with this ferocity, this sense of power. ‘Girls Against God’ (“And I know I may not look like much/Just another screaming speck of dust/But, oh God, you’re gonna get it”) and ‘Dream Girl Evil’ (“Did I disappoint you?/Did Mummy make you sad?/Do I at least remind you of every girl that made you mad?”) are prime examples of this.

But I implore you to explore this album for yourself and become immersed in this new fairytale world Welch has created with this Dance Fever character. I for one don’t see myself leaving it anytime soon.

8/10

Dance Fever is out now on Polydor Records.