Florence And The Machine

Florence and the Machine arrived from London in 2007 with a voice built for cathedrals and a band that played like a storm rolling in. Florence Welch sang lead with the lungs of a revivalist preacher, Isabella Summers played keyboards, Rob Ackroyd played guitar, Christopher Lloyd Hayden played drums, and a harp gave the whole thing its otherworldly shimmer. The sound mixed alternative rock, baroque pop and soul, dramatic and eccentric to the bone.

The BBC gave them an early push, the Brit Awards handed them the Critics' Choice Award in 2009, and the A Lot of Love. A Lot of Blood. EP delivered the goods: the scrappy "Kiss with a Fist" and "Dog Days Are Over", which builds into a full-tilt stampede of joy. Lungs, the 2009 debut, added the pounding "Drumming Song" and took its time, hanging near the top of the British chart for months before finally claiming the top spot, and it won the Brit for Best British Album.

Ceremonials in 2011 went bigger and more gothic with "Shake It Out", and How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful topped both the British chart and the Billboard 200. The same year Welch headlined Glastonbury, and the band has kept the drama coming through High as Hope, Dance Fever and Everybody Scream.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.