Florence and the Machine are back with a new song called “King.” Watch its accompanying video, directed by Autumn de Wilde, below.
Despite her obvious strength — “I am no mother, I am no bride, I am king,” Florence Welch declares — “King” sees the artist reevaluate her identity as a Woman in Rock™️ with newfound vulnerability.
“As an artist, I never actually thought about my gender that much,” Welch said in a statement. “I just got on with it. I was as good as the men and I just went out there and matched them every time. But now, thinking about being a woman in my 30s and the future, I suddenly feel this tearing of my identity and my desires. That to be a performer, but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts. I had modeled myself almost exclusively on male performers, and for the first time I felt a wall come down between me and my idols as I have to make decisions they did not.”
Carys Anderson/Consequence Of Sound