27 November 2011 - 2 Comments

Fanning the flames of a fire started just under two years ago, Florence + The Machine are set to ignite stages across the country when they return to NZ in May 2012 for a national arena tour.

Following on from the multi-million selling, multi-award winning, global smash of a debut album ‘Lungs,’ Florence + The Machine first landed on Australian shores in January 2010 on the Laneway Festival bill; playing to stunned audiences over the course of the festival as well as her own headline club shows.  Barely six months later, her ascension to stardom took a further leap when she returned to wow audiences on the main stage at Splendour In The Grass and sell out multiple theatre shows from Perth to Brisbane.  So overwhelming was the demand that shows sold out in record timing and her stay in Australia was extended to allow additional shows not previously planned.

The phenomenal success story of the debut album ‘Lungs’ – certified double platinum in Australia, peaking at #3 on the ARIA Album Chart with the much loved singles ‘You’ve Got The Love,’ ‘Kiss With A Fist’ & ‘Dog Days Are Over’ – has paved the way for her much lauded and highly anticipated sophomore release, ‘Ceremonials.’  Debuting at #1 on the ARIA charts on the week of release, this stunningly accomplished record is showing no sign of slowing down.

Florence Welch is an artist teetering on the wind-blown top of her game, and this record is an  extraordinary testament to what she refers to as “my incorrigible maximalism.” The pounding epiphanic positivism of ‘Spectrum’; the galloping massed-ranks majesty of ‘All This And Heaven Too’ and ‘Shake It Out;’ the triumphant emotional battle cries of ‘No Light No Light’ and ‘Heartlines.’ Spend a little time with Ceremonials and what strikes you first and foremost is the apparent confidence of its execution.

“This is the first time I’ve made a record with a sort of overarching, cohesive sound” says Florence: “It’s a proper studio album in that sense: a group of songs that paint a unified picture of where I am in my life right now.”

Recorded with her full band over five weeks over the European summer in Abbey Road's legendary Studio 3, 'Ceremonials' is another product of her long-running collaboration with producer Paul Epworth. Together they’ve created an expansive art-pop vision that can be both captivatingly tender while still frequently soaring to places where it can overwhelm the senses like an emotive tidal wave.

At twenty five, the art-school dropout has done much of her growing up amid the maelstrom of her whirling worldwide success. In 2010 she broke America in spectacular style, her monster hit Dog Days blazing a trail across the nation, taking the charts and the airwaves by storm. She wrote and recorded a heart-stopping track for the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack and performed Dog Days to a rapt and truly global audience at the MTV VMA awards. The viewing figures were almost a billion, and the following day Florence was the most Googled person on the planet.

Do not miss out on what is set to be one of the touring highlights of 2012!

TICKETS ON SALE WEDNESDAY 7^TH DECEMBER, 9am

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