FLORENCE + THE MACHINE: HOW BIG WILL HOW BIG BE?

Republic’s Florence + the Machine are back, with a new song and video, “What Kind of Man,” hitting iTunes and Vevo today ahead of upcoming album How Big How Blue How Beautiful, due on 6/2.

The rocking track’s decidedly NSFW work video is full of sex, obsession and romantic distress. The track, meanwhile, premiered on Zane Lowe’s BBC Radio 1 show today.

The set marks the official end of Florence Welch’s hiatus, which followed five frenetic years of recording and touring around albums Lungs and Ceremonials; the flame-haired singer describes a “crash landing” into real life outside the hermetic world of the tour bus, much of which informs the new album.

The group has been managed since its inception by Mairead Nash, who was one half of the U.K. DJ duo Queens of Noize, when—as legend has it—a tipsy Welch followed her into the loo at a club and asked her to rep the project, and Hannah ‎Giannoulis.

After releasing an EP on the indie IAMSOUND in 2009, Florence + the Machine inked with Island in the U.K., then co-run by Darcus Beese and current Polydor head Ted Cockle, with Ben Mortimer (who's also now at Polydor) getting the A&R collar. Their first release on the label was Lungs (issued by Republic in the States), which was a #1, quintuple platinum release in the U.K. and platinum in the U.S.; it sold 3 million copies worldwide.

2011’s Ceremonials was platinum in both Britain (where it was #1) and the U.S. (#6). The band has earned three Grammy nominations, including a Best New Artist nod in 2011; they’ve won BRIT Awards as Critics’ Choice (2009) and British Album of the Year (Lungs, 2010) and been nominated for six others.

In the U.S., the band has sold 2.3m albums and 8.3m tracks.

How Big will How Big be? We shall see, but we're going to go with "Big."

TORTURED POETS UNITE: TAYLOR IS BACK
Is she ever. (4/19a)
HITS LIST ENTERS
PLAYOFF MODE
Will the scoring record be broken? (4/19a)
SONG REVENUE: CALM BEFORE THE STORM
J. Cole has his moment; Future-Metro have another big payday. (4/19a)
WARNER CHAPPELL ROPES IN RED CLAY STRAYS
Another big get for Guy and Carianne (4/19a)
THE COUNT: COACHELLA, FROM THE COUCH
The coziest way to experience the fest (4/19a)
THE NEW UMG
Gosh, we hope there are more press releases.
TIKTOK BANNED!
Unless the Senate manages to make this whole thing go away, that is.
THE NEW HUGE COUNTRY ACT
No, not that one.
TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN PLAYLIST
Now 100% unlicensed!
 Email

 First Name

 Last Name

 Company

 Country
CAPTCHA code
Captcha: (type the characters above)