The special something

My best friend and I listened to Ceremonials yesterday and discussed the songs (major geek attack... ) after a while we started wondering for the 123rd or so time why exactly FATM is so special. This time we came up with something regarding Flo's voice that we had never really formulated yet: The incredible way she acts with her voice. How it can sound mean, angry, gentle, sad, happy etc. depending on the song or the line. We decided we had never heard a singer before who could convey feelings and tell a story with her voice the way she does.

What are the special somethings you noticed that make FATM's music unique?

Thats a great thought

Florence's voice is outstanding on its own and because she is so powerful with her voice and music she can make the listener feel the emotions of the song; for example Never Let Me Go, everyone just cries because of the raw emotion they feel towards the song and flo herself. so i agree with you
i look at her songs and most of them i can relate to via a certain situation like, kind of a role model and inspiration.. so Heartlines, Shake It Out and probably Cosmic Love for example
(Sorry for my poor explanations :/)

Florence doesn't' t just sing she tells a story with her voice. That's why we feel the emotion.
It' s like when you have read a really good book and the story stays in you head for a long time afterwards. That's the effect Florence 's songs have.

Well, I have to say that the first time I listened Florence (Dog Days video) I thought "Woow this woman is incredible, but I don't like too much her voice" And I don't really know why I thought it, but few days later, I saw her acoustic performance of Cosmic Love in KEXP and I fell in love with her.
I started seeing her live performances and.. I .. there is no word to express what I felt, and still feel when I listen her. Her voice is so amazing. When she sings I just feel like if all my feelings were fighting for going out of my body and I just want to jump and sing and I feel peaceful but happy at the same time and all kind of good feelings. Also when she shouts it's like you were shouting with her. You really feel what she is singing.

For me, it was the unique voice. I remember sitting in front of the TV watching the Hits TV (now 4Music), watching the chart show. "Number 22 this week is Rabbit Heart by FATM" I hear the presenter saying, and this amazing sound just started. I stared and saw this firey-red headed woman on my screen, like a pre-raphaelite beauty. I'd never seen a singer before with such confidence and power. She danced on the table, floated in a coffin with euphoria and passion. I immediately ran upstairs and Googled her name, and listened to the song over and over. I couldn't stop singing it out loud. I just thought, to be honest, it was just a one-off song that I'd like. But then I heart Drumming Song, then Hurricane Drunk, then Cosmic Love, then Blinding.

Each song also has such amazing lyrics. I can't bear songs where you listen to them and even though the tune is good, the lyrics suck. I hate songs like that. Florence looks so deeply into her emotions and draws so much inspiration from them to give these stunning, very descriptive lyrics that allow you to create an image of the song in your head. It's unique.

I never knew I'd actually be at the point of obsession that I'm at now. It seems like ages ago that I first heard this one song, and now it's blown into me loving everything she does! She's also just a genuinely lovely person and that's rare in the celebrity world at the moment.

fatmfanclub wrote:For me, it was the unique voice. I remember sitting in front of the TV watching the Hits TV (now 4Music), watching the chart show. "Number 22 this week is Rabbit Heart by FATM" I hear the presenter saying, and this amazing sound just started. I stared and saw this firey-red headed woman on my screen, like a pre-raphaelite beauty. I'd never seen a singer before with such confidence and power. She danced on the table, floated in a coffin with euphoria and passion. I immediately ran upstairs and Googled her name, and listened to the song over and over. I couldn't stop singing it out loud. I just thought, to be honest, it was just a one-off song that I'd like. But then I heart Drumming Song, then Hurricane Drunk, then Cosmic Love, then Blinding.

Each song also has such amazing lyrics. I can't bear songs where you listen to them and even though the tune is good, the lyrics suck. I hate songs like that. Florence looks so deeply into her emotions and draws so much inspiration from them to give these stunning, very descriptive lyrics that allow you to create an image of the song in your head. It's unique.

I never knew I'd actually be at the point of obsession that I'm at now. It seems like ages ago that I first heard this one song, and now it's blown into me loving everything she does! She's also just a genuinely lovely person and that's rare in the celebrity world at the moment.

I also thought it would be a "one song" kind of thing, because it usually is for me. Or "one brilliant song and the rest is good" kind of thing. But I kept clicking and clicking and each song was amazing!
Also Flo's lyrics are of the rare quality that I love to simply read them without even hearing the music. Something which is rather new to me since I am known for my inability to even understand lyrics when I listen to music. Another amazing thing: Looking at all the unbelievable stuff she does with her voice, it's quite admirable that you still understand most of what she sings!

Flo is one of the few few people I've ever followed not only because of their unbelievable talent but also because of their personality. Mostly I just like the art people make but am not very interested in them as people. I made the mistake though to check out one of these collections of her funniest moments on youtube...if you don't adore her after that, you probably have no soul.

excellentpotato wrote:
I also thought it would be a "one song" kind of thing, because it usually is for me. Or "one brilliant song and the rest is good" kind of thing. But I kept clicking and clicking and each song was amazing!
Also Flo's lyrics are of the rare quality that I love to simply read them without even hearing the music. Something which is rather new to me since I am known for my inability to even understand lyrics when I listen to music. Another amazing thing: Looking at all the unbelievable stuff she does with her voice, it's quite admirable that you still understand most of what she sings!

Flo is one of the few few people I've ever followed not only because of their unbelievable talent but also because of their personality. Mostly I just like the art people make but am not very interested in them as people. I made the mistake though to check out one of these collections of her funniest moments on youtube...if you don't adore her after that, you probably have no soul.

I make most of those videos and I love doing it because she truly is hilarious (make another one at the moment in fact)! She's just incredible. It's true though...there are so many other reasons for me liking FATM that are buried deep in my brain but I just can't physically find the words to say why sometimes. It's like an inanimate, non-physical thing...like your soul. It's there but hardly thought about or used consciously. Similarly, with Flo, there's an air about her that is just likable. Her voice; her talent; her lyrics; her personality...and something else unexplainable.

It all sounds supernatural but you get what I'm saying!

Another video? Oh, I can't wait, I love them so much! they're better than 90% of the comedy shows I know (also because nobody writes her lines beforehand!)

When people describe music they love, they often say they get goosebumps. To me FATM is beyond goosebumps. There's something that touches my feelings directly, not just my body but my soul is transported to some other place. It's kind of creepy when I think about it, I guess only music fans can understand that state.

And I think extraordinary art always has some supernatural feel to it. Like it seems larger than life somehow.

I just really like how 'big' the sound is. Lots of choir heavy choruses, violins, harps and thundering drums is how I like my music. The more massive the production the better.

I like the way Florence roars and shouts (A lot of people who don't like her list that as their main complaint!), none of that whispery crap.

Despite all that, FATM are the only band where I actually bother to find more quiet acoustic sessions or watch livestreams of.

I love love love the epic sounds! And her screaming! These constantly silent singers with their silent slow songs annoy me endlessly by now. Sure, there are some which are good but what I love about Flo is that she can sing silently and full of emotion but she can also shout to the point you get scared! So when people say "she only shouts!" I'm like: so?? She shouts like a pro!

I agree with you all on the acting with her voice thing.

And I think what also makes Florence + the Machine special are those little extra things in some songs. For example if you listen to Howl you can hear breathing sounds. In Bedroom Hyms there is some kind of humming which I did not hear one the first few listens. And Cosmic Love has a heartbeat. I just really love those unexpected extras which you didn't hear in the beginning, but only after a few good listens. It makes the songs even more amazing.

Melisery wrote:I agree with you all on the acting with her voice thing.

And I think what also makes Florence + the Machine special are those little extra things in some songs. For example if you listen to Howl you can hear breathing sounds. In Bedroom Hyms there is some kind of humming which I did not hear one the first few listens. And Cosmic Love has a heartbeat. I just really love those unexpected extras which you didn't hear in the beginning, but only after a few good listens. It makes the songs even more amazing.

Yes, I only recently noticed the sound of a crow flying away at the end of Blinding since I usually skip on at the end. You can hear what sounds like metal pipes being hit together in time on rabbit heart as well (you can hear it better in the instrumental version).

And if you pull the headphones out a little bit while listening to Howl you can hear a really serious sounding low-pitched Florence singing that's kind of funny.

What I love the most is this weird rubber ducky sound in Cosmic Love. I had never heard it until someone pointed it out on tumblr. I love listening to the instrumentals to figure out the different rythms and odd instrumental bits. Flo's voice is so distracting at times that it's hard to concentrate on what else is going on, which is usually a lot..

excellentpotato wrote:What I love the most is this weird rubber ducky sound in Cosmic Love. I had never heard it until someone pointed it out on tumblr. I love listening to the instrumentals to figure out the different rythms and odd instrumental bits. Flo's voice is so distracting at times that it's hard to concentrate on what else is going on, which is usually a lot..

I saw someone mention this but I cannot hear what they're talking about at all. I know near the end she does some big groan like she was punched in the stomach (at about the 3.20 mark) but no rubber duck.

Siggi wrote:

I saw someone mention this but I cannot hear what they're talking about at all. I know near the end she does some big groan like she was punched in the stomach (at about the 3.20 mark) but no rubber duck.

You have to turn up the volume to hear it. At 2:59 just before she sing 'In the shadow ..'
I didn't hear it the first time but if you listen carefully you'll hear the rubber duck.

LewisMT wrote:

Siggi wrote:

I saw someone mention this but I cannot hear what they're talking about at all. I know near the end she does some big groan like she was punched in the stomach (at about the 3.20 mark) but no rubber duck.

You have to turn up the volume to hear it. At 2:59 just before she sing 'In the shadow ..'
I didn't hear it the first time but if you listen carefully you'll hear the rubber duck.

I always thought she pronounced it as TwilighT with an emphasis on the t. I don't really hear a rubber duck.

Melisery wrote:

I always thought she pronounced it as TwilighT with an emphasis on the t. I don't really hear a rubber duck.

It's just after 'twilight' , the rubber duck is like a weird sound in the instrumental part. e-e

Why are we even discussing this? Lol

I consider Flo's approach to the symbolism in her songs also as something special.
I just love how she combines emotions with history and art, like the reference to Woolf.
And I really love the references to the Pre-Raphaelites, but that's done in the videos and clothing/hair :p