Florence and the Machine

A little bit of a warble here, a hint of off-kilter strumming there, and it quickly becomes clear that Florence Welch and her small band of merry pranksters from the U.K. are not looking for traditional pop success. Ms. Welch is clearly far more interested in following down the mad path of the likes of Kate Bush, Bjork and PJ Harvey.

Full disclosure - I'm typically highly skeptical of the self-conscious art-school pop that sets hearts atwitter over at Pitchfork. With that said, I immediately was digging on the slightly wiggy dramatics of Florence and the Machine and their latest releases, an oddly sweet acoustic cover of a Beirut tune and their second official single, the clickety-clacking "Dog Days are Over."

They'll be busy touring the UK for the winter, but hope to hit the Northeast U.S. come spring-time, so stay tuned!

mp3: Postcards from Italy (Beirut cover)