The album that got me through 2022 was Dance Fever by Florence + The Machine, released the same year, and with production credits most notably including Jack Antonoff and Dave Bayley (most people would know him as the Glass Animals frontman). The entire album is phenomenal but the first track – “King” sets the tone and is far and away one of the most memorable songs from the band. Period.
The vocals of Florence Welch have always veered more ethereal and other-worldly and past EPs have tailored to that. However, “King” combines the choral energy most fans have come to expect from Florence + The Machine, despite the fact that they are sometimes classified as a rock band, with a more heavy percussive energy. The song also has some interesting musical and lyrical callbacks to the bands early work such as also bringing back the harp in light touches which is a homage to the groups earlier albums Lungs (2009) and Ceremonials (2011). Even the line “I was never satisfied / it never let me go” is a reference to the song “Never Let Me Go” from Ceremonials (2011).
The layered vocals make the track feel very full and rich, there is always happening, an energy – there is a lot of complexity and very little silence. Knowing that Jack Antonoff had a big role in the production of this song and his penchant for working with female vocalists, his influence seems to stick out in the layering of vocals and the musical motifs pulled from earlier work.
All in all, the entire album is worth listening too, and “King” is the perfect first track – I hope you enjoy it as much as I do: