
I love the music of British band Florence + the Machine. Fronted by singer-songwriter Florence Welch, their sound is a glorious blend of indie rock, baroque pop, folk, art rock and soul. Their gorgeous song “My Love” takes over the #1 spot on my Weekly Top 30. The third single from their new album Dance Fever, Welch told Rolling Stone that she initially envisioned the song as a “sad little poem” to be performed acoustically, but later transformed it into a number she describes as “Nick Cave at the club.” In an interview with BBC Radio 1 Breakfast Show, she commented “Sometimes the biggest dance songs, I think, have a really sad core to them.” The song was co-written by Glass Animals vocalist Dave Bayley, with whom she collaborated on Dance Fever along with Jack Antonoff. The video for “My Love” was directed by Autumn de Wilde, who also directed the videos for the previous two Florence + the Machine singles “King” and “Heaven Is Here”. In the video, Welch is shown performing a concert in a pretentious nightclub, where she hypnotizes and immobilizes people, then arranges them in dances. Very baroque and cinematic.
In other chart developments, the songs at #s 3-7 remain in their same positions, while two beautiful songs – “Virginia (Wind in the Night)” by The Head and the Heart and “Seventeen Going Under” by Sam Fender – enter the top 10. Debuting this week are “Beds Are Burning”, a terrific remake of the Midnight Oil classic by AWOLNATION, featuring guest vocals by Rise Against lead singer Tim McIlrath, and “Believe” by American folk band Caamp, making their first appearance on my Weekly Top 30.
- MY LOVE – Florence + the Machine (2)
- WILD CHILD – The Black Keys (1)
- AS IT WAS – Harry Styles (3)
- SLEEP – Gooseberry (4)
- CHASING TRAINS – HULLAH (5)
- WILD – Spoon (6)
- LOVE BRAND NEW – Bob Moses (7)
- LA CIENEGA – Chief Springs (10)
- VIRGINIA (WIND IN THE NIGHT) – The Head and the Heart (11)
- SEVENTEEN GOING UNDER – Sam Fender (12)
- ON MY KNEES – RÜFÜS DU SOL (13)
- DECEPTION – Hannah Reem & Noodle Beard (8)
- THE HURT WITHIN – Holy Coves (14)
- DISTANCE – Mount Famine (16)
- BLOODRUSH – The Amazons (17)
- I LOVE YOU – Fontaines D.C. (9)
- A LITTLE BIT OF LOVE – Weezer (20)
- 2am – Foals (21)
- TELL ME THE TRUTH – Two Feet (25)
- SHUT OFF THE LIGHTS – Bastille (22)
- SYNCHRONIZE – Milky Chance (23)
- THAT’S WHERE I AM – Maggie Rogers (24)
- WHAT, ME WORRY? – Portugal. The Man (15)
- BROKEN HORSES – Brandi Carlile (18)
- ANIMAL – Partisan (28)
- BLACK SUMMER – Red Hot Chili Peppers (19)
- CLOSER – The Frontier (29)
- LONELY – Sea Girls (30)
- BEDS ARE BURNING – AWOLNATION feat. Tim McIlrath (N)
- BELIEVE – Caamp (N)