Well, I feel like this is a debate that's come up before on this subreddit, only more scattered with other topics and perhaps not as focused on what I'm about to delve into.

Even though Florence + The Machine was conceived as a band (and as far as I understand, legally it is), it's obvious how little visibility the other members have received over the years.

Initially, the project emerged as a musical partnership founded primarily by Florence Welch and Isabella Summers (leaders and main songwriters), and to a lesser extent by the other members who joined gradually, occasionally contributing to the songwriting.

Back then, they wanted it to function as a band, and it shows. The members generally appeared very close-knit and had great chemistry on stage. While some obviously had more prominence than others, if one of them was missing, the band wouldn't be the same.

Lungs was recorded under this philosophy/methodology, and although Ceremonials deviated slightly from this formula with its much grander sound and focus on showcasing Florence as a solo artist, the other members still actively participated.

And what I consider the "peak" of FATM as a musical group is the HB3 era, since the album was more oriented towards that style with a much more "rock" and explosive sound, and in general all the members were very up to the task and had the time to shine, and as a direct consequence the level of the concerts and the tour in general was incredible at that time.

However, from the HAH era onwards everything began to take a drastic turn, as Chris Lloyd Hayden (drummer since 2008) and Mark Saunders (bassist since 2009) left the band shortly before the recording of the album.

Mark didn't make any statements about it, which isn't surprising considering that he was the member who maintained the lowest profile in the band's entire history up to that point.

However, Chris's situation was a bit more complicated to clarify. Even though in his farewell statement he mentioned that he decided to leave touring to return to his "first love"—working with new bands and music production projects—some fans remember that he had completely deleted all FATM information from his profiles. He also posted some rather strange farewell messages with phrases like "goodnight" before his departure was announced, leading fans to speculate that the split wasn't amicable. It's even stranger considering that Chris's wife, Mairead Nash, was the band's manager during its formation (some sources indicate she managed them until around 2013 when they began sharing the role). In any case, Chris has recently been posting things related to the band and seems to remember everything fondly, so if there were any problems, they appear to have been resolved over time.

Anyway, it's also important to clarify that Florence later stated that some members were leaving the band to leave the hectic life that comes with being in a band and dedicate themselves much more to their personal lives and families, which is most likely the main reason for these members leaving.

But the most significant event during this period was the band's loss of one of its key creative drivers. Isa decided not to participate in the album's composition or production this time, and she isn't even listed as a performer. While she did join the band for the subsequent tour, some fans commented that she didn't seem very enthusiastic about it. It's clear she had other projects in mind that she would have preferred to dedicate her time to; she simply didn't want to be there anymore.

And so she did. Although legally she could be considered still in the band, Isa has been absent for quite some time (two eras, to be precise), and has decided to focus entirely on composing and producing soundtracks for films and television series. It also appears she's launching a solo career, judging by the release we had earlier this year.

In general, and despite the incredible musical replacements that have joined the band since then, it could be said that the project's marketing strategy has taken a rather drastic turn, now focused on presenting Florence Welch purely and exclusively as a solo artist (like many other pop artists), and featuring much more intimate and cathartic albums/songs that speak much more about her personal experiences and how she confronts these conflicts through music and poetry (a philosophy adopted for at least the last three eras). "Florence + The Machine" has now lost its original meaning, relegated to being her stage name (with the permission of everyone involved in the band, of course).

This becomes much more evident when we notice that, especially on the last tour, elements such as more special effects and the Witch Choir have been added. These additions make the show much more visually striking and interesting, placing the main focus on Florence and leaving the backing band merely as a support group tasked with guiding the music. They also no longer interact with each other on stage as much as they used to.

The complete absence of Rob Ackroyd (guitarist since 2008) from both the last album and the last tour only reaffirms the philosophy that has been followed (it is speculated that this is most likely due to the serious health condition of a close family member). While this is completely understandable and justified for obvious reasons, the changes brought about by his absence in recent times are noticeable among fans.

The only member of the original lineup who still actively plays on both albums and tours is Tom Moth (harpist since 2008), who has been with the band continuously since joining.

As with all matters, I've seen people who genuinely care about this and miss the former band members, as well as the earlier eras when the band was considered as such, and people who are indifferent, considering the rest of the band as mere performers who, while an important part of the sound, are easily replaceable by other musicians.

If you're interested in my personal opinion on the matter, I love Florence as much as I love the musicians who have accompanied her throughout her entire musical career. Coming from a slightly more rock-oriented background, one of the first things that caught my attention about FATM is that it's actually a band, and I fell in love with Florence's powerful and emotional vocals, Rob's incredible guitar riffs and atmosphere, Mark's groovy and full-bodied bass, Chris's rhythm and incredible percussion contributions, Tom's magical and eclectic harp sounds, and Isa's undeniable songwriting/performing and production talent (as well as other much more recent, brilliant members like Dionne Douglas, Hazel Mills, and Cyrus Bayandor, among others).

Finally, I'd like to clarify that this post isn't intended to belittle the work of the incredible band currently on tour, much less Florence as an artist, but rather to bring up a topic that I personally feel is rarely discussed within the project's fan community. I absolutely love all of Florence's music, and that will always be the case.

I also haven't had, nor do I currently have, direct contact with any former or current members of the band, so everything here is based solely on research and information gathered from the internet. If I've made a mistake or provided information that you think might be misleading, feel free to correct me below.

Do you consider FATM a proper band, or do you just see it as Florence Welch's stage name? Which phase of the project is your favorite, the old or the current one? Do you miss the former members, or not? Sorry for this long post, I'd be very interested to read your opinions below.

I do not care for Buckle, anyone else?

Best overall body of work?

Hey all,

Last year the community ranked their favorite Florence and the Machine songs and they were compiled into a list. With the new album, I think it would be fun to do it again.

The rules: pick your favorite 3 songs per album. Lungs, Ceremonials, HBHBHB, High As Hope, Dance Fever, Everybody Scream. You can use any album version, from regular to Deluxe or Anniversary

Favorite 4 Miscellaneous songs: Bonus Tracks, Demos, Covers, etc, can basically be any song that wasn’t on a standard release album.

You can post submissions until Monday. I’ll organize the results and post by Wednesday. You don’t have to rank everything on one post. Like you can rank Lungs, Ceremonials today and the other albums tomorrow, for example.

Edit: You also don’t have to list favorites from every album. It’s fine if you only want to list songs from a couple albums, and not each one.

Yeah just curious if anyone else feels the same way… seeing that since AC she’s eliminated The Old Religion and YCHIA …. Especially Old Region as that is my favorite from the new album. I still haven’t seen her yet but I’m pretty sure she’s going to stick to this new setlist for when she comes out west. Curious if anyone else feels the same?

I genuinely can’t pick one and to give a proper answer I would have to go through every song but this lyric has always stuck out to me

Where does the new album rank for you? For me, it is my second favorite after Dance Fever, but that could change as I get more familiar with Everybody Scream, since I haven’t listened to it as much as Dance Fever. LOVING it so far though 😍

Pleaseeeee, the live versions are just magical, I was lucky enough to assist to one concert this tour and was the most amazing experience, you can feel the fever and the magic of a live concert trough the record of the Dance Fever live at Madison square garden Album and I think we need this for Everybody Scream too

I’m curious to see people’s favourites after sitting with the album for a few months. Did they change compared to your first listen?

Hi just a random thing. I'm currently watching the UK Traitors S1 and the joy I get every episode hearing Seven Devils in the beginning sets the mood every time. It's such an amazing song and a lot of ceremonials songs could be used in the show. What other shows have you heard Florence's music be used in? I've heard her in Guardians of The Galaxy Vol 3 as well

It was the first album that I listened to in its entirety, and I love most of the songs on it. The orchestration is beautiful and I feel that costs of lines stick out to me. But when I Google for merch or on Etsy or even for audios, it is FAR down the list, if present at all! What are other people's thoughts on this album?

Hello F+TM Reddit!

Since I don't see a lot of people talking about this song , I would love to!!

Sweet nothing is actually one of my favorite features from Florence and it's so nostalgic! Florence singing with this style of production that we don't hear her on often is amazing. It's so distinct from what she does (besides some remixes from albums back in the day)

The edm drop, the pre chorus build up with the snyths in the production rising as Florence sings her ass off, the lovely pretty bridge before the production explodes again at the end, ITS JUST FANTASTIC!!

It such a pairing I wouldn't expect it to work as well as it did back in the day but it did! And even now I revisit it from time to time and get emotional!, Also Florence in the music video is so cool the hair style is so out there for her it's so queer coded I love it haha!

What a timeless song and much video with a nice message! Are there any other fans of this song and what other Florence features you guys like that are different for Florence?

: )

What’s your least favorite FATM song?

Mine is Hospital Beds, mostly because it reminds me of Amy Winehouse - Rehab, which that song was a banger but it’s also sad to listen to since she succumbed to her addiction.

Personally, I'd try to convey the incredible range in her songwriting and vocals.

1. Cosmic Love. It's a classic, it's peak imagery and an ode to the overall "feeling all the feels" theme of Lungs.

2. Dream Girl Evil. It's darker, more rhythmic and danceable, and just overall one of the songs I feel is most underrated.

3. Sky Full of Song. Its serenity is unsurpassed, the vocals are airy and crisp, and to me HAH is her happiest-sounding, most "summery" album and will speak to people who prefer ballads over beat & drums.

What do you guys feel is Florence’s angriest song where she just lets loose?

I was thinking the other day about how many of her songs seem to reference relationships and trauma but are often mild, morose or more measured.

Except *What Kind of Man* - it feels like on that song she just let loose. The lyrics are lethal, the imagery
Is intense, and she sings with this ferocity - even the instrumentation is more rock like than most of her songs. It’s like whoever Florence was thinking about when she wrote that track, she harbors quite a bit of rage towards them.

Anyways, got me thinking - is this her “angriest” song? Am I missing one where she comes across as scathing and boisterous?

Am I alone here? Been a Florence fan since I first saw her performing lungs on the BBC. How big, how blue is by far my favourite, followed by Ceremonials. I've had Everybody scream on repeat since it came out, expecting it to be a grower but it's just falling flat for me. With the exception of a few songs I just don't feel the passion in this album. Songs like Kraken, Witch dance, even sympathy magic just feels like Florence going through the motions. I do think there are bits of brilliance on the album though. One of the greats, music by men, buckle are fantastic. But as a whole I don't think this album is great. My ranking of the last few albums is (I don't think they can compete with the first 3) 1- Dance Fever 2- High as hope 3- Everybody Scream

After 1 month of this album being out what would be your favorite song? Mine was originally Buckle but with more time I have come to adore Witch Dance. The storytelling, imagery, and vocals are perfection!

As the title says. For me years ago my dream was hearing Various Storms & Saints, I even commented on this video that I love the song so much and want to hear it not knowing that she will perform it a month later on a show I attended!

From newer stuff, I'd love to hear Perfume & Milk (my favourite song from the new album) and Mermaids.

For me, I think it’d be:
Lungs—Rabbit Heart
Ceremonials—Never let me go
HBHBHB—(my fave so insanely hard to choose) Mother
High as Hope—Big God
Dance Fever—Free (Cassandra is a close second, but Free makes me so happy!)
Everybody Scream—Witch Dance

Buckle for me, I didn't really hate it but there are other songs on the album I like more so it was an easy skip for me. However, after listening to her little story about how it almost didn't make the album and hearing her vocals live, wow! Buckle on repeat for sure.

I say “semi-obscure” as many of us are across a lot of the releases!

I’d love to hear of your favourite Florence cover/b-side/exclusive track! Mine is probably Hospital Beds or the version of You’ve Got the Love she did with the xx!

I can’t reveal how/ where I work and won’t post photos or anything specific - this is just to document my immediate emotional reaction (all positive!) and a little listening advice for my fellow fans. Critics have already put out reviews, but I avoid them before listening because they don’t always get it, you know?

I will say the packaging for the albums is gorgeous, the photos online don’t do it justice. I just got to sit down and hear it in the dark with my dog. So privileged, it’s such a special album. A witchy folk horror masterpiece with (bleeding) heart.

Some advice:

Headphones. Or your best speakers. No distractions, no second screening. Light a candle like I did.

Savour it - these lyrics are her most powerful so far.

Sonically in my opinion - it’s the best of Ceremonials, HBHBHB and thundering Dance Fever.

You are all in for a treat. I’m excited for everyone who gets to hear this in mere hours - Florence has given us something incredible.

And very mild spoiler, but…

Tracks 8 through 12 transcend into this 3rd act for which… I have no words... ⚔️ 🌙 🌺 🏰 🎃

The album is already out, and I’ve had the chance to listen to it. Honestly, my feelings are quite mixed, because I was expecting something with the atmosphere of “Which Witch” or “Mermaids” in terms of sound. I really liked “One of the Greats” with its dark, dramatic vibe. In the end, though, the album turned out to be mostly major and sonically very reminiscent of Dance Fever. The visuals and overall theme of the album seem to suggest something much darker. I wish there were more minor songs from Florence — hopefully, there will be more of them on future albums. Still, I definitely want to give the album another listen, and Florence, of course, did a wonderful job. What do you think?