Florence Welch reveals how vampires and horror films influenced Dance Fever album

8 May 2022, 16:00

By Jenny Mensah

The Florence + The Machine singer has opened up about some of the inspiration behind her new music.

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By Jenny Mensah

Florence Welch has talked about how binging on horror films inspired her while making her Dance Fever album.

The Florence + The Machine star has revealed how her love for more macabre movies during lockdown seeped into her fifth record.

"Horror was like a poultice," she told The New York Times. "I couldn't watch a rom-com or a film where people were eating in restaurants. I needed to see people losing it."

She continued: "I really wasn't enough of a horror aficionado. I have enough scary thoughts in my head to not want to be scared recreationally. But I got COVID just before we did the album cover shoot.

"I was pretty sick, so I watched Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula, which was visually a really big reference for the record and the costumes."

She added: "The script is a little clunky but somehow that and the overacting all adds to the magic. There was a period of time where I was, for lack of a better phrase, drinking all the vampire content that I could."

Florence + The Machine - King

Welch previously opened up on single Heaven Is Here - which features on the album - after she also created choreography to accompany the song for the first.

"Heaven Is Here was the first song I wrote in lockdown after an extended period of not being able to get to the studio," she said.

“I wanted to make something monstrous. And this clamour of joy, fury and grief was the first thing that came out.

“With dance studios also shut it was my dream to one day create choreography with it. So it’s one of the first pieces of music I have made specifically with contemporary dance in mind.”

Watch the video for Heaven Is Here below:

Florence + The Machine - Heaven Is Here

Florence + The Machine are set to embark on a UK Arena tour this year in support of the new record, playing a string of dates in November, will include two homecoming shows at London's O2 Arena.

Support for all gigs comes from Willie J Healey, with Aziya joining as a special guest on their London date.