Gig review: Florence and the Machine

Published on Wednesday 23 September 2009 18:57

FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE **** ABC, GLASGOW

THERE'S a strange dichotomy at work in 22-year-old Florence Welch's artistic life at the moment. When she isn't singing, the young Londoner sounds almost precociously posh, although this is mitigated by a layer of wide-eyed incredulity at the position in which she finds herself.

Which is odd, because Welch truly is one of this decade's great British pop music discoveries. Her voice is packed with immaculate pathos and drama (see a solo version of Etta James's Something's Got a Hold On Me, the song which got her signed, for proof), and her own songs ring with a graceful drama that's offset by her occasionally shattering high notes. At the ABC, there were diversions into the hypnotic pound of dance music, notably during Drumming Song and the huge finale of her big hit, Rabbit Heart. Welch's talent and youthful energy emphatically merit all the comparisons to Kate Bush, Bjork or Tori Amos.

So, although she may not realise it yet, such glib tricks as splitting the audience in two to hear their best howl (before the track of the same name) aren't required. Nor is a cover of Candi Staton's You Got the Love – and specifically The Source's majestic but vastly overplayed house version. That was the one point, in fact, where Welch seemed neither completely original nor the confident equal of her idols.