Dance Fever (album)
Dance Fever is the fifth studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine, released on 13 May 2022 by Polydor Records. Work on the album was originally scheduled for early 2020 in New York City; however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the recording took place in London instead. Frontwoman Florence Welch has cited Iggy Pop as the biggest musical influence on the album; which features a variety of styles, ranging from progressive pop to indie pop, disco, and industrial music.
Dance Fever
13 May 2022
2020–2021
- Electric Lady (New York City)
- Guilford Sound
- RAK (London)
- Real World (Wiltshire)
- The Bridge (London)
- The Pool (London)
47:12
The title and concept of Dance Fever originated in Welch's fascination with choreomania, a social phenomenon in early modern Europe that involved groups of people dancing erratically. The album cover was photographed by Autumn de Wilde, who also filmed music videos for the album's three singles: "King", "My Love" and "Free", as well as the song "Heaven Is Here".
Dance Fever was a commercial success in Europe, the US and Oceania. It debuted atop the UK Albums Chart in the week of its release, becoming the band's fourth number-one album in their home country. It reached the second place in Australia, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Portugal and debuted in the top ten of several other record charts. The album received acclaim from music critics and is ranked as the best-received album in the band's release history. Critics mainly praised the diversity of the sound, Welch's songwriting abilities and powerful vocals. "King" earned a nomination for Best Alternative Music Performance at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards. To promote the album, Florence and the Machine embarked on the Dance Fever Tour which visited cities in North America, Europe and Oceania.
Background and recording[edit]
The majority of the album was recorded in London. The first recording sessions for the album were originally scheduled to take place in March 2020 in New York City but were scrapped after the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic.[1] While recording the "anthemic" Dance Fever, Welch and her collaborators fostered a "dance, folk, '70s Iggy Pop" sound in the vein of "Lucinda Williams or Emmylou Harris and more" that is meant to be enjoyed during "the return of clubs, live music and dancing at festivals".[1] Welch also found inspiration in "the tragic heroines of pre-Raphaelite art, the gothic fiction of Carmen Maria Machado and Julia Armfield, the visceral wave of folk horror film from The Wicker Man" (1973) to the A24 films The Witch (2015) and Midsommar (2019), Francis Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992) was visually a big reference for the record and the costumes, and "folkloric elements of a moral panic from the Middle Ages".[1][2][3][4]
The title of the album was inspired by Welch's fascination with choreomania, a social phenomenon in early modern Europe that involved groups of people dancing erratically.[1][2][3]
Composition[edit]
Dance Fever is a pop rock,[16] baroque pop,[17] progressive pop,[18] alternative rock,[19] gothic pop,[20] and folk[20] album.
Commercial performance[edit]
Dance Fever achieved wide commercial success across Europe. It debuted atop the UK Albums Chart, thus becoming the band's fourth number-one album in the country. The album achieved the feat with approximately 26,000 chart sales midweek during its release.[30] Additionally, it debuted atop the Scottish Albums Chart in the week of 20 May 2022.
Dance Fever achieved commercial success in the United States and Australia as well. In the US, the album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200 albums chart, thus becoming the band's fourth top ten record in the country. It further reached the summit of the Top Alternative Albums and Top Rock Albums charts in the country.[31] In Australia, Dance Fever debuted at number 2 on the ARIA Charts in its first week of release on 29 May 2022.[32]
Notes
Florence and the Machine
Additional musicians
Technical