July 31, 2012 16:23

Florence Welch: 'My live shows are like an exorcism'

Singer also gives an update on the writing of the follow-up to 'Ceremonials'

Photo Gallery: Florence And The Machine
Photo: Andy Willsher/NME

Florence And The Machine's Florence Welch has described her live show as "like an exorcism".

The singer, who is currently touring North America in support of her second studio album 'Ceremonials', has said that she finds the experience of performing live to be "really cathartic" and almost an out of body experience.

Speaking to Absolute Punk, Welch said of how she felt during her live shows: "I feel like I suddenly come back to myself onstage. During the songs, you transcend yourself. The best way to be in the performance is to be without pause and be essentially in the moment, in that moment of expression."

She continued: "I always find it's really cathartic and it's almost like an exorcism, but then zip, I'm always just back to myself. I think I should get a bigger between-the-song persona, so then I'm not wandering around the stage like some mad old auntie that's saying hello to people and falling over."

Welch also said that she did not felt like she could consider herself "a role model" yet, adding: "It would be too frightening for me to consider myself a role model. But I like the idea of not being afraid of letting your imagination rule you, to feel the freedom of expression, to let creativity be your overwhelming drive rather than other things."

The singer also spoke about her progress in writing her third album and said that she was "excited" about putting new material together after she finishes touring at the end of September.

She said of this: "I'm excited for the third record. It's been a gruelling couple of years, but I'm glad I got the second one out because it was ready and it did feel ready. It felt like a sequel almost to 'Lungs' that needed to come out for me to let people know what I was about. 'Lungs', for better or worse, was maybe a slightly confused record."

She continued: "That was the good and bad thing about it, it was more like a scrapbook. With 'Ceremonials', it was as if I had averted the sound. I pinned it down and controlled it. Now it feels good because it feels like there’s a lot of options right now.

Florence And The Machine released a new live album on April 9, which was recorded at the band's MTV Unplugged performance late last year.

You can watch a video interview with Florence And The Machine from this year's NME Awards by scrolling down to the bottom of the page and clicking.

Video: Florence - 'I'm Really Excited About Reading And Leeds'

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