FEATURE:
Spotlight
Florence Road
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THIS is a band…
that everyone should know about. I listen to BBC Radio 6 Music a lot and they have been mentioned by the station. Although they are near the start of their career, there is every reason to believe that Florence Road are going to be making music together for years to come. Their E.P., Fall Back, was released in June. I want to come to a few interviews with this wonderful Irish band. I am going to start out with their chat with Golden Plec from last month:
“It’s been like a whirlwind” vocalist Lily Aron admits, when she sits down to discuss the dramatic rise of her band Florence Road over the past 18 months. Surrounded by bandmates Emma Brandon (guitar), Ailbhe Barry (bass), and Hannah Kelly (drums) backstage in The Grand Social ahead of a sold-out headline show in celebration of the release of their five-track mixtape 'Fall Back'.
Since they released their debut single ‘Another Seventeen’ in 2022, the Wicklow quartet have gone from strength to strength, signed with Warner Music, played shows across Europe in support of US act Sombr, played Boston as part of Dermot Kennedy’s Misneach festival alongside the likes of Mick Flannery and Sorcha Richardson, and next week will support worldwide superstar Olivia Rodrigo in both London’s Hyde Park and Dublin’s Marlay Park. Taking it all in, whirlwind seems like an understatement.
“It’s been everything we’ve expected and more” Lily continues, “Even doing a music video was a huge dream of ours, and we did the ‘Goodnight’ music video two months ago and the whole experience was phenomenal. We’re all into the creative side of music so to be able to explore than has been amazing”.
“I feel like I went in with no expectations because I didn’t want to get my hopes up” drummer Hannah Kelly adds,” but everything has been great.”
The members of the band all first met in school, some already deep into their musical education while others were still fresh. The band first began life as Panorama, with Lily Hannah and bass player Ailbhe, before guitarist Emma approached Lily one day asking to work on a song together.
They did, performing a cover of ‘Happier Than Ever’, at which point it became clear to everyone (though Emma took slightly more convincing) to continue as a four-piece. They very quickly won a talent competition, with first prize being recording time, which they used to record ‘Another Seventeen’.
Whilst the band’s musical output is undeniably catchy, with single ‘Caterpillar’ in particular being one of the best new Irish songs of the past year, one of the major driving force behind their success to this point has been their social media presence, in particular on TikTok, where they have garnered over 900,000 followers and 30 million views.
Their experimentation with video all started as a joke between friends, when one of them got an ealry iPhone 0.5 camera. “We just got together and made a video for fun, posted it, and it didn’t do well in the first day or so” Lily recalls of one of their early viral hits, “but then it gradually began creeping up and it’s getting bigger ever since”.
“It was again a case of us going in with no expectations” Emma adds,”People were just loving the big blue eyes and freaky angles, and we just went “great, lets do more”.
Despite the growing numbers online, the band recognise the importance of knowing when to take a step back.
“It can be easy to get swept up in that online validation but we have such a good team around us, our family and friends, and we know that that’s just not real” Lily explains, “We recognise it’s been so important in helping us get to this place, but if we get a nasty comment or video doesn’t do as well, we know ourselves it doesn’t reflect our work or hold weight as long as we’re proud of it”.
“Performing live is really our main focus at the moment” Ailbhe adds, “I feel like social media is just used to boost that really. I’ve definitely taken a step back from looking at the numbers and reading comments, it’s really helped. There was a while there when we were getting so much hate comments we had to just log out and disconnect, in particular when working on new stuff”
PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning for DORK
I am going to move onto a great interview from DORK that was published last month. Whether you see Fall Back as an E.P. or mixtape – I am not sure of the distinction myself to be honest! -, it is one of the best releases of this year. Stunning stuff from a band that started out with no plan, a single song and a shed. It will not be long until Florence Road are performing in the U.S. and further afield. They have some dates coming up, including a stop in London on 20th August. Go and catch them if you can:
“Coming this spring is Florence Road’s debut mixtape, ‘Fall Back’. Spearheaded by their knockout debut single ‘Heavy’, the mixtape sees the girls get in the room with big-name producers faster than they could’ve ever imagined.
Where ‘Heavy’ was produced by John Hill (whose best work includes contributions to Charli xcx, Florence + the Machine, and MUNA tracks), their follow-up, the delicate and pensive ‘Caterpillar’, had Dan Nigro’s magic wand waved over it (a name that’s been wafting around since the 2020s kicked in, thanks to his collaborations with Olivia Rodrigo and Chappell Roan). Also making an appearance in the credits of ‘Fall Back’ is Dan Wilson, whose roster of hits includes work with a couple of small artists; maybe you’ve heard of Taylor Swift and Adele?
“We went over to LA for the first time, which was kind of bonkers,” says Lily. “We worked with Dan Wilson, who we love, and Dan Nigro, of course, that was very cool. I had to be like, I’m not thinking about this. Going in with these producers who we know are, you know, really well renowned, there’s that tiny bit of subliminal pressure to perform well. Honestly, I find it helpful.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Patrick Gunning
“I think because it’s still so fresh, and we’re so grateful and amazed to be there, that’s why we’re so quick,” adds Hannah. “It’s like, okay, let’s go and be able to come out with a demo because it’s just incredible to be there at all.”
There’s a wide-eyed optimism about Florence Road that seems to stop this whole rollercoaster from derailing. It’s only the very beginning, and with everything exciting so far only happening behind the scenes, being so close-knit helps the four stay grounded.
“When we started doing those first sessions, we very quickly had a lot of meetings, and we were meeting with kind of every single record label in the UK. It was the coolest thing ever, but also kind of scary. Everyone does tell you what you want to hear,” Lily explains.
“It had never crossed my mind until it was like, okay, now you’re meeting with the three big names. I was like, surely not?” adds Ailbhe.
“There’s a lot of imposter syndrome,” says Lily. “It kind of feels like there was a lot of being in the right place at the right time with this whole thing. I do believe that we’re very talented, but also so are a lot of other musicians. You can do a lot of why me and why us, you know, but I think we kind of take everything as it comes. I’m constantly grateful for everything. I’m constantly pinching myself. Even today, it’s so cool.”
It helps that the girls are so giddy, because Dork has been putting them through their paces today. Several hours scaling the woods in the rain and icy winds would’ve been enough to put any band off ever agreeing to an on-location photo shoot again, but they take it like real champs.
As grounded (and bewildered) as Florence Road are, when the boring side of the internet catches wind of a young female band who are doing well, accusations of being ‘industry plants’ feel poised to end up knocking on their door.
“If someone says we’re industry plants, we can be like, look at us two years ago, do you think they planted that?” says Ailbhe.
“The internet is a terrifying place,” adds Lily. “You always have to be on your toes with it and take everything with a grain of salt, because people are going to say the most egregious shit.”
“I think because we have such a digital footprint,” says Emma, “it would just be silly”.
There is a review of Fall Back that I want to finish with. Before that, I am going to source some of this NME interview from earlier in the month. If you do not know about Florence Road, then you need to rectify that now. Go and check out their phenomenal music! I have really high hopes for this band. I would love to go and catch them live one day. I might try and get a ticket for their London gig if there are any left. NME spotlighted a band who have already supported Olivia Rodrigo and have released this stunning and complete mixtape/E.P. One that sets them aside from their peers:
“‘Fall Back’ moves through a lot of different genres – how does it introduce Florence Road’s sonic world?
Aron: “I think what’s nice is that we never overthought it. ‘Caterpillar’ is very different to ‘Figure It Out’, and you could say the same about every single song. There are definitely crossover points, but it was never a discussion. The feeling was there, and we knew each song had its own moment. Having different musical influences, we have a lot of range in our songs, and they take you up and down. That’s something I love about our music – I don’t listen to one genre, I love music in all forms, and that’s why it comes out in what we do. I don’t see a reason for a box, or to say we can’t have piano cos we’re a rock band.”
Naming yourself as a rock band feels integral – are there other women in that space who’ve been influential?
Aron: “Wolf Alice are so cool, and Beabadoobee – the way she can do rock but also the lighter stuff. I listened to her a lot growing up, and that definitely influenced me.”
PHOTO CREDIT: Jan Philipzen
You’re now all 20, what does this EP say about being that age?
Aron: “I think it’s definitely a very emotionally-driven project. That transition from being a teenager to adulthood – even though we don’t feel like adults at all – there’s that feeling, and a lot of it for me is about being anxious and trying to get over that. It’s been really helpful for me to write about it and get it all on a page, and then getting to sing them all the time is very therapeutic. And then ‘Figure It Out’ is a yearning song of ‘I like you, like me back please!’ which is very common at this age.”
What’s coming up next – are there plans for an album in the works yet?
Kelly: “From day one, we’ve known that ‘7563’ is going on the album, and there are at least four or five others that are certain, so now it’s about trying to fit them together in a way that feels cohesive.”
Ailbhe Barry: “We’re writing all the time, so it’s exciting to see what we’re gonna do next and see what we haven’t touched on and maybe find new sounds and find what doesn’t exist yet.
Aron: “We just have so much fun together. When something big happens, I always say, ‘If this is it, then this is amazing’, and my expectations keep getting blown out of the park. We just have a blast, and it is so fabulous to do it with these three”.
I am finishing with one of the many positive reviews for Fall Back. Still Listening praised a work where Florence Road established their sound. A magnificent release filled with “angst, tenderness, and grunge-pop charm”. For those who have not heard Fall Back yet, do go and spend some time with it. It is evident that Florence Road are going to be huge very soon. So exciting to see a band who came from humble foundations rising and winning such plaudit. Their music needs to be heard by everyone:
“It seems that 2025 is the comeback year for indie bands - and placing themselves firmly within that category is the four-piece girl band Florence Road, who have just released their highly anticipated debut EP, Fall Back, via Warner Records last Friday.
The band features Lily Aron on lead vocals, Emma Brandon on guitar, Ailbhe Barry on bass, and Hannah Kelly on drums, all childhood friends from Wicklow in Ireland. Initially gaining popularity through their TikTok covers, the band are slowly making a name for themselves; having just finished opening for Sombr around Europe, as well as securing an opening slot for Olivia Rodrigo at BTS Hyde Park and Dublin this year.
The group's sound teeters between multiple subgenres - indie, soft-rock, grunge, and alt-pop - and combines these styles to create something new and refreshing. Lily's vocal delivery throughout the EP is particularly strong; it's emotional, raw and completely untamed, which only adds to the candidness of the lyrics.
The EP opens with Hands Down, a soft-rock ballad with a heavy electric guitar chorus. Lily's vocals ring throughout, her voice breaking and full of feeling, yet never too much or uncontrolled. The instrumentation and production follow suit: it's messy in nature, which I think it should be, given how early the girls are into their careers and the nature of the topics that they're writing about: navigating youth in all of its chaos.
Goodnight is next, possibly the most Olivia-Rodrigo-coded song, with a strong beat and bass line, and an angsty and catchy chorus and bridge. Lily chants lyrics 'this time, I'm gonna get it right, I'll leave the past behind, and your bags outside' / 'I'm sorry that it didn’t end well, but you never were a good pretender. I'm sorry that it didn’t end well, but you didn’t help yourself'. Whilst being a great sing-along tune, this might be the most predictable track on the EP in terms of melody and production, and not as sophisticated as the other tracks.
The EP swiftly moves on to showcase some of the band's strongest lyricism - an acoustic guitar ballad Caterpillar. Lily's delivery is soft to begin with, singing of the ever-so-familiar feelings of anxiety, with lyrics such as 'know that I'll feel better with the tap on, something about the water running down my side' / 'caterpillar hatching in my chest'. The chorus continues: 'is there something inside of me? / 'making me believe, that black is white' / 'is there something I can't defeat?' / 'maybe I should try and sleep tonight, sleep tonight'. As the instrumentation builds, with swelling strings, so does the rawness and emotion in Lily's voice.
Figure It Out jumps straight back into the grunge-bitten vengeance Flo Ro are known for: catchy guitar, lots of distortion, and a carefree vocal delivery. Closing the EP is Heavy, with lyrics 'tell me, tell me it's not that heavy, lie to my face and beg me not to cry, say it's alright, and we'll let it slide'. A whirlwind of a track with impressive production, the song finishes with just piano and Lily's unfiltered vocals.
Fall Back sees Florence Road firmly establishing their sound - and at such an early point in their career, it's impressive. With a range of styles being explored whilst simultaneously maintaining an artistic identity, it's exciting to see what the band will do next”.
Go and follow Florence Road. A tremendous young group who are going to be festival headliners very soon, I do really love what Florence Road are doing. They may be unknown to some. I would strongly suggest that you go and check out this band. They are an exciting and hugely promising name that you…
SHOULD not live without.
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Follow Florence Road
