After dropping the title track of their upcoming album, Everybody Scream, back in August, Florence + the Machine have shared a new single. Titled "One of the Greats," it's a simmering ballad with evocative vocals and vulnerable lyrics.
According to Genius, “One Of The Greats” is Florence Welch’s reflection on her own mortality during a near-death experience she had in 2023. It's coupled with the paradox of how her career immortalizes her as a ‘Great’, and what that means as a woman in a patriarchal society and industry. For example, she croons on the bridge, “It must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can.”
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The song, written as a poem initially, was recorded in one take with Mark Bowen from IDLES playing guitar. It was produced by Mark Bowen and Aaron Dessner.
“I don’t really know how to explain myself with this one, it was sort of a long poem about the cost of greatness,” singer Florence Welch revealed in a press statement acquired by Consequence. “Me and Bowen from IDLES wrote it in one take. He played the guitar and I just sang it straight from the page. We meant to re-record it but the first take just had this amazing energy. Then Aaron Dessner helped us take it to a truly transcendent place. I wanted it to feel like you were disintegrating into nothing at the end. Which is sometimes what the creative process feels to me. Death and resurrection over and over.”
The track comes with a visualizer directed by Autumn de Wilde - who also directed the band's last video for "Everybody Scream." It sees Florence Welch sitting in the back of a moving car at night. She wears sunglasses, holds a joint, and sings as the song plays through.
Everybody Scream will be Florence + the Machine's sixth studio album, and is set to drop on Halloween. It will be the group’s first full-length effort since 2022’s Dance Fever. While touring in support of that album, Welch had to undergo emergency life-saving surgery, forcing the band to cancel several shows. Last year, the outfit put on a special 15th anniversary performance of their debut album, Lungs, as part of the BBC Proms festival.
Listen to "One of the Greats" below.
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Article Image: Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine sings during a show. (Moffly via DepositPhotos.)
