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‘Conjuring some magic’: paganism and the musical and visual aesthetics of Florence + the Machine and Bat for Lashes

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 January 2019

Erin Sweeney Smith
Erin Sweeney Smith*
Affiliation:
Independent Scholar, Willowick, OH, USA E-mail: [email protected]
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Abstract

Magic and mystery shroud Florence + the Machine's and Bat for Lashes's performances and interviews, which frequently frame the two groups’ frontwomen, Florence Welch and Natasha Khan, as ‘witchy’ or magical, or spur comparisons to Pagan aesthetics. This article investigates the unique ways the two bands use Pagan influences to speak to mainstream and Pagan audiences. Ultimately, the two groups set themselves apart from other bands through marketing that fuses commercialism with an esoteric religion. Florence + the Machine and Bat for Lashes create a ‘Pagan chic’ that draws in listeners through videos, instrumentation often featuring harp and tom-tom drums, fantasy-oriented lyrics, and stage props which use a Pagan lens to respond to current political events reminiscent of the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s.

Type
Articles
Information
Popular Music , Volume 38 , Special Issue 1: Music and Magic , January 2019 , pp. 90 - 104
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Discography

Bat for Lashes, Fur and Gold. Parlophone. 2007Google Scholar
Bat for Lashes, Two Suns. Parlophone. 2009Google Scholar
Florence + the Machine, Ceremonials. Republic. 2011Google Scholar
Florence + the Machine, Lungs. Universal Republic. 2009Google Scholar

Videography

Florence + the Machine, ‘Dog Days are Over (2010 Version)’Google Scholar
Florence + the Machine, ‘No Light No Light’Google Scholar