Florence + The Machine have shared a new track today (March 7). Listen to the emotive ‘Heaven Is Here’ below.
The Florence Welch-led group made their comeback last month with the new single ‘King’, which marked their first piece of new music since last year’s Cruella soundtrack contribution, ‘Call Me Cruella’.
Posting on Instagram yesterday (March 6), Welch confirmed that follow-up ‘Heaven Is Here’ would be released today and shared some background information on the track. “‘Heaven Is Here’ was the first song I wrote in lockdown after an extended period of not being able to get to the studio,” she wrote.
“I wanted to make something monstrous. And this clamour of joy, fury and grief was the first thing that came out.”
Welch added that fans could expect the song to be accompanied by some dance moves, writing: “With dance studios also shut it was my dream to one day create choreography with it. So it’s one of the first pieces of music I have made specifically with contemporary dance in mind.”
You can watch the song’s video here:
Welch can be heard speaking on the new track: “And every song I wrote / Became an escape rope / Tied around my neck / To pull me up to heaven.”
Welch also revealed that two of the dancers in the video are from the Ukraine and are currently sheltering due to the ongoing war with Russia. Welch wrote: “Two of the dancers in this video are currently sheltering. To my brave and beautiful sisters Maryne and Anastasiia I love you. I wish I could put my arms around you. Strength.”
I’LL TURN YOUR SEA TO A DESERT https://t.co/BvYBJgV8nJ
Directed by @autumndewilde
Choreographed by Ryan Heffington
Filmed in KYIV 20 NOV 2021
With radioaktivefilm. pic.twitter.com/HRil61wuHM— florence welch (@florencemachine) March 7, 2022
Two of the dancers in this video are currently sheltering. To my brave and beautiful sisters Maryne and Anastasiia
I love you.
I wish I could put my arms around you.
Strength.Find ways to support https://t.co/xutocRX93B.@RESCUEorg
— florence welch (@florencemachine) March 7, 2022
Around the release of ‘King’, Welch shared that she had begun thinking about herself as an artist in the context of her gender since she entered her thirties. “I suddenly feel this tearing of my identity and my desires,” she wrote. “To be a performer but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts.
“I had modelled myself almost exclusively on male performers, and for the first time I felt a wall come down between me and my idols as I have to make decisions they did not.”
Meanwhile, Florence + The Machine will make their live comeback this summer with a series of European festival headline sets, including Norway’s Øya, Finland’s Flow and Spain’s Mad Cool.
The post Listen to Florence + The Machine’s emotive new single, ‘Heaven Is Here’ appeared first on NME.
