SONG OF THE DAY

“Dog Days Are Over” by Florence + The Machine (Lungs, Universal Island/ Moshi Moshi/ IAMSOUND, 2008). Written by Florence Welch, Isabella Summers.

WHY TODAY?

Well, I first discovered this song back in October from the television show Mercy, and, true to form, the song appears on my October 2009 Monthly Playlist. Then a few days ago, my pops emailed me and asked if I’d heard of this band/ liked them/ owned them/ wanted it for my birthday at the end of the month. Yes, yes, yes but only this track, yes.

Also, there are the most amazing photographs of Florence Welch online, it was so hard to pick just one. She’s an ARTIST, for sure. I mean, look at the music videos! Please. An artist in all forms.

INTERESTING FACTS (a la wikipedia)

– “Dog Days Are Over” is the second single released by indie band Florence + the Machine from their debut album Lungs which was finally recorded and released well after the single was made available.
- “Dog Days Are Over” was recorded with no instruments in a studio the “size of a loo”.
– The song was inspired by a giant text installment titled “Dog Days Are Over” by artist Ugo Rondinone, which Welch used to see every day, riding her bike over Waterloo Bridge.
– The song was produced and mixed by James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and the Last Shadow Puppets, who is also famous for producing for the likes of Bloc Party and the Arctic Monkeys. He is also credited for the piano and guitar instrumentals in the song.
– Florence co-wrote the song with Isabella Summers who is also credited as the song’s co-producer and piano instrumentalist.
– “Dog Days Are Over” also features harp, viola, and violin instrumentals.
– An acoustic version of the song was performed live on BBC’s Radio 1 Big Weekend.
– The track has been performed at many high profile festivals through the course of 2008 and 2009, including the Reading and Leeds festivals.
– The band also performed the song on the Mercury Prize 2009 awards show and BBC Introducing.
– A six minute forty second long An Optimo Remix of “Dog Days Are Over” has also been made available.
– The song was used in an advertisement for programming on RTÉ and in an episode of BAFTA Award-winning teen drama Skins and in the American comedy horror film Jennifer’s Body. It was used in an advertising campaign for the television premiere of Slumdog Millionaire. It was also heard the NBC medical drama Mercy (TV series), and used during a promotional video for the show. In addition the song was used in Episode 3.8 of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. It also featured in Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 14. In March, 2010, the song was used in the theatrical trailer for Eat, Pray, Love.
– MusicOMH.com observed that ” “Dog Days Are Over” only seems likely to add to her already burgeoning reputation. While not as immediately catchy as “Kiss with a Fist”, it’s an urgent, pounding, almost bluesy anthem which shows off Florence’s voice to its very best advantage”.
– contactmusic.com rated the song 9/10. The website remarked that “It’s brilliant. It’s a masterful yet primal tour-de-force of folk/pop/rock that reveals a beguiling talent that should surely be regarded as one of the finds of the musical year. “Dog Days Are Over” succeeds in capturing a powerfully ‘live’ studio sound that sinks, swells and explodes in a series of unconventional verse/choruses that, accentuated by Welch’s snarling”.
– dailymusicguide.com also positively reviewed the single: ” “Florence Welch has one hell of a voice and uses it to full effect on “Dog Days Are Over”, which plays the traditional verse-chorus-verse-chorus pattern to create a song of two halves. The song begins with an intricate acoustic beginning, before building and building along with the volume of Florence’s stunning voice and coming to a crescendo at the half way mark. A moment of silence gives the listener a breather before the onslaught begins building to another stunning climax when Florence’s voice hits incredible heights. Rating: 4.5/5″
– thisisfakediy.co.uk gave “Dog Days Are Over” a 8/10 rating, mentioning: “Dog Days Are Over” is incredibly entertaining and furthermore a complete storm of a song. Florence plays with this song, exerting a huge energy. It is a wonderfully spiritual four minutes that will never fail to impress.
– The video was uploaded onto YouTube on November 6, 2008. Welch told the NME “I just made it on a whim. We went down to the woods and we only had one camera. I got my dad to put a clown costume on and my friend’s nephew to dress up as the baby clown while we decorated the woods. Dog walkers gave us the weirdest looks. It was really fun.” The video featured acclaimed performance artist Theo Adams.
– On 10 March, 2010, UK newspaper The Sun‘s official website featured the new video that would accompany the re-release of the track on 22 March 2010.
– “Dog Days” has been performed on every date of the Lungs Tour 2009 and has become a fan favorite. Florence often asks the crowd to do a particular action during the end of the song.
– On December 6, 2008 “Dog Days Are Over” debuted at #89 on the UK Singles Chart. The following week it dropped one place to #90 before dropping out of the top 100. It then re-entered the chart a month later on January 17, 2009 at #93 before dropping out of the chart again. Approximately four months later the single made another re-entry on May 23, 2009, this time at #91. Despite re-entering the chart twice and spending a total of four weeks within the top 100.
– Lungs is the debut album by the London-based indie pop band Florence and the Machine. The album debuted at #2 on the UK Albums Chart for five weeks after its release, behind The Essential Michael Jackson compilation. So far it has remained on the chart for thirty consecutive weeks, and on 10 January 2010 the album returned to #2, extending its stay at the runner-up spot to six non-consecutive weeks. On 17 January the album reached its new peak position of #1 for two consecutive weeks.
– The album was a main contender for the 2009 Mercury Prize and has garnered generally favorable critical reception.
– Lungs won the Mastercard British Album award at the 2010 BRIT Awards.
– Several songs on Lungs are about violence and death. When questioned about this by the NME, lead singer Florence Welch responded: “Well, what other subject is there? I remember realising that my parents were going to die and weeping. Weeping as if my father had actually died.”
– The album is noted for having a much more expansive production than Florence and the Machine’s previously recorded demos.
– Florence and the Machine (sometimes stylised as Florence + the Machine) is the recording name of Florence Welch and a collaboration of other artists who provide backing music for her voice.
– Florence and the Machine’s sound has been described as a combination of various genres, including pop, rock and soul.
– The band’s music has received praise across the music media before they gained mainstream success, especially from the BBC who played a large part in Florence and the Machine’s rise to prominence by promoting her as part of BBC Introducing.
– Florence Leontine Mary Welch (born 28 August 1986 in London) is the daughter of Evelyn Welch, a Harvard-educated Professor of Renaissance Studies and Academic Dean of Arts at Queen Mary University of London, an author and former Studio 54 regular, and Nick Welch, who works in advertising.
– Welch’s fascination with terror and doom was intensified by the death of her grandparents within a few years of each other. At age 10 Welch witnessed her grandfather’s deterioration, and her maternal grandmother, also an art historian, committed suicide when Welch was 14.
– When Welch was 13 years old her mother moved in with her next door neighbour and his three teenage children. According to Welch: “We get on brilliantly now, but it was a nightmare then. I just used to stay in my room and dance around.
– Florence was educated at Alleyn’s School, South East London, the alma-mater of actor Jude Law, among others. Despite doing well academically, Welch often didn’t focus at school, and was often in trouble for improptu singing. Welch has been diagnosed with dyslexia and dysmetria, and believes she also suffers from OCD, ADD and insomnia.
– Welch has stated that she would like to have a career similar to PJ Harvey and Björk who are “constantly creating new exciting stuff”.
– Welsh contributed vocals to the David Byrne and Fatboy Slim 2010 album Here Lies Love, an album about Imelda Marcos.
-The Machine, the collective name for Welch’s backing band and collaborators, comprises many different members who are often dependent on Welch’s requirements when performing. Past members of the Machine have included Devonte Hynes, better known as Lightspeed Champion, while the current line up includes Robert Ackroyd on guitar, Chris Hayden on drums, Isabella Summers (a.k.a. Machine) on keyboard and Tom Monger on harp. In the past Welch has praised the Machine for understanding her creative process, claiming “I’ve worked with most of them for a long time and they know my style, know the way I write, they know what I want.”
– According to Welch, “The name Florence and the Machine started off as a private joke that got out of hand. I made music with my friend, who we called Isabella Machine to which I was Florence Robot. When I was about an hour away from my first gig, I still didn’t have a name, so I thought “Okay, I’ll be Florence Robot is a Machine”, before realizing that name was so long it’d drive me mad”.
– Florence and the Machine are managed by Mairead Nash, who decided to manage the singer when an inebriated Welch followed Nash into the toilets and sang the Etta James song, “Something’s Got A Hold On Me”.
– Much of the material on the album was written as reaction to what turned out to be a temporary break-up with Welch’s current boyfriend. Welch says “He prefers me not to talk about it. It’s funny then singing about it.”
– In November 2009, Welch revealed to BBC Newsbeat that recording for her second album would begin in the following January, expressing her enthuasism to “start recording as soon as possible.” After beginning recording for her follow-up to Lungs, Welch remarked the sessions for her second album were both “a step forward” and “heavier in sound”… “If the first album was animal and anatomical I think this one is chemical and elemental.”The album is due out in 2011.
– Florence and the Machine were part of the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards tour. Welch said that she planned a “pretty theatrical” performance. Welch was planning to bring “as many weird clothes” as possible with the idea of deciding what to wear before going on stage.
– In October 2009, the band’s equipment and instruments were caught in a trailer fire during their European tour, forcing the band to use rented instruments to complete their remaining shows. Welch has stated “You could hear the harp’s strings ping in the fire. Strange sound. We recorded it and I want to use it in a song.”
– On 27 October 2009, Florence and the Machine played their first official gig in New York City, and appeared on the television programmes The Late Show With David Letterman and Jimmy Kimmel Live!
– The Times described her as “the most peculiar and most highly acclaimed female singer of the moment” and “the latest in a line of great English pop eccentrics”.
– Allmusic described Lungs as “one of the most musically mature and emotionally mesmerizing albums of 2009”.
– Spin Magazine gave Lungs four out of five stars and wrote, “You’ve gotta hand it to the girl: She always makes you feel something”. The magazine named the album as the 8th best of 2009.
– On 19 February 2010, Florence and the Machine won “Best International Band” at the 2010 Meteor Awards.

VIDEO OF THE DAY