Florence + the Machine recently announced her third album ‘How Big How blue How Beautiful’ with the instantly arresting single ‘What Kind of Man’. Part of the force behind the track came in the form of the most daring and emotionally raw video from Florence we’ve seen. Directed by Vincent Haycock, this moving visual was chapter one of an on-going collaborative project between Florence & Vince that will extend throughout the album’s life.
The ‘How Big How Blue How Beautiful’ visual odyssey started with ‘What Kind of Man’ and continues now with another stunning video for album track ‘St Jude’, which was unveiled last night.
Vincent Haycock explains “(What Kind Of Man) is meant to set the tone, establish some of the themes, choreography and visual style for what’s to come. It’s obviously about relationships, but it’s also about Florence traveling through our version of the Divine Comedy. So in essence this video is the first layer of Hell…We actually shot more narrative but it didn’t feel right to reveal everything upfront or button it up too much. This is the first of many videos that will explore the world we created, so I didn’t want it to end in the first video.”
A far more stripped back and emotionally sensitive song compared to What Kind of Man, ‘St Jude’ lends itself perfectly to the visual themes and tone initially explored in chapter 1 – with more serenity through its sadness.
On what might follow, Vince explains “I don’t want to give away anything but I will say that this album is really a pleasure to make videos with. It spans a broad spectrum of songs – some are slow and emotional, some are anthemic and raw. My goal is to create videos that will follow the music throughout, guiding us through each layer of the How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful odyssey.”
First single ‘What Kind Of Man’ is available now on iTunes.
Watch the video - directed by Vincent Haycock & choreographed by Ryan Heffington - HERE
TRACK LISTING
- Ship To Wreck
- What Kind Of Man
- How Big How Blue How Beautiful
- Queen Of Peace
- Various Storms & Saints
- Delilah
- Long & Lost
- Caught
- Third Eye
- St Jude
- Mother
IN CONCERT
- 25.06.2015 @ Rock Werchter