NEW YORK, NY – High As Hope, the hugely anticipated new album from Florence + the Machine, is set for release June 29 on Republic Records. The first official single, “Hunger,” also premieres today, accompanied by a stunning new video directed by A.G. Rojas.
Premiering today, “Hunger” pairs Florence’s intimate, rawly honest lyricism with a broader sense of acceptance, community, and joy. “Hunger” is effectively about acknowledging those holes in our psyche that we try to fill with love and hate, obsessions or addictions but you can ultimately only ever satisfy yourself.
“This song is about the ways we look for love in things that are perhaps not love, and how attempts to feel less alone can sometimes isolate us more,” says Florence. “I guess I made myself more vulnerable in this song to encourage connection because perhaps a lot more of us feel this way than we are able to admit. Sometimes when you can’t say it, you can sing it.”
Florence wrote, co-produced (her first time co-producing a Florence + the Machine album) and recorded the majority of High As Hope in solitude, cycling to her studio in Peckham every day.
She finished the songs in Los Angeles with her friend and co-producer Emile Haynie, bringing in Kamasi Washington, Sampha, Tobias Jesso Jr, Kelsey Lu and Jamie xx as further collaborators. Florence mixed the record in New York, where the daily view of the skyline—often in stark contrast to the chaos of the wider world—gave the album its title.
Florence writes of growing up in South London, of family, relationships, and art itself. “There’s a lot of love in this record, loneliness too, but a lot of love,” says Florence.
She continues, “It’s always a work in progress, and I definitely don’t have everything figured out. But this feels like quite a pure expression of who I am now, as an artist, and an honest one. I’m just more comfortable with who I am.”
HIGH AS HOPE
- June
- Hunger
- South London Forever
- Big God
- Sky Full of Song
- Grace
- Patricia
- 100 Years
- The End of Love
- No Choir
