Florence Welch gives fans first taste of what they can expect on her new disc, due in November. By James Montgomery Florence Welch Photo: Shirlaine Forrest/WireImage Florence and the Machine conquered audiences on both sides of the Atlantic with their dynamic, dramatic debut, 2009’s Lungs. Ever since, fans have been clamoring for the follow-up. Now, it’s finally on the horizon. On Tuesday (August 23), Florence Welch announced on her official site that her sophomore album would hit stores on November 7 in the U.K., and according to her rep, it’ll be out sometime the same month here in the U.S. She also gave us all a sneak peek of what we can expect on the disc with a soaring, chiming, epically massive new track called “What the Water Gave Me,” which is imbued with a gospel choir and Welch’s epic pipes, and seems destined to rule the festival circuit for the foreseeable future. The still-untitled album is produced by Paul Epworth and was recorded at London’s iconic Abbey Road studios. Welch had been premiering a handful of tracks from the record during live shows — the standout “Strangeness and Charm” will reportedly also make the cut — and earlier this summer, before her performance at Bonnaroo in Manchester, Tennessee, she sat down with MTV News to discuss the process behind making the new album, calling it a more cohesive effort than her debut. “I wrote so much of my first album at different times and places — some songs when I was 18, some when I was 21 — so there are so many pieces and styles on it,” she said. “And that’s one of the things I love about it, but for my new record, I wanted to do things differently. It’s why I worked with one producer in one studio. I want to tie all those things together … in one piece, if possible.” Welch also said that the album draws inspiration from ethereal sources too, including one song on the album she wrote after a ghostly visitation. “There’s a song on it that’s inspired by a visit [from] my dead grandmother — like, I had a really, really vivid dream about her and, um, she was giving me advice in this dream,” she said. “And it was really emotional, and I woke up crying. And there’s one song that’s inspired by that experience.” Related Artists Florence + the Machine
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Florence And The Machine Return With ‘What The Water Gave Me’
