Florence Rawlings' A Fool In Love - Preview
Preview by Jack Foley
FLORENCE Rawlings’ debut single, Hard To Get, is a distinctively cool introduction to her signature sound, complete with a memorable after-dark feel that could easily have graced any Motown classic.
It’s just one of a collection of powerful songs that make up her debut album, A Fool In Love, an LP full of gritty arrangements, soulful melodies and vibrant brass work, complemented by gospel vocals and addictive rhythms to create a blend of raw soul that has been off the airwaves for far too long.
Signed to Dramatico Records (Katie Melua, Marianne Faithfull, Carla Bruni) Florence’s album is an impressive debut of authentic soul, raw grooves and rhythm and blues that Music Week described as “a blend that could elevate her to the similar heady heights Melua enjoys”.
Florence has already performed at the Isle of Wight Festival, which she opened, O2 Wireless in Hyde Park and Guilfest in Surrey, this summer, as well as at shows across Europe.
She first impressed Dramatico chairman Mike Batt seven years ago, when she was only 13 and he had just signed Katie Melua. While Katie went on to sell millions of albums around the world, Florence stayed on at school, performed at clubs and pubs in her spare time and kept in touch with Mike. “I’d sing for whoever was willing to listen,” she says. “At school, in clubs and bars – anywhere I could.”
Fast forward to 2009. Florence has now recorded her album and it is definitely worth the wait. As well as singing a collection of powerful original songs penned by Mike Batt himself, Florence has discovered gems from days gone by and transformed them with her own charismatic soul style.
Florence makes the Gladys Knight song Take Me In Your Arms And Love Me completely her own, whilst reinventing Allen Toussaint’s long-forgotten Riverboat with vigorous production, uplifting horns and sleek dark overtones that give the song a lavish, ominous edge.
She even performs a version of Chuck Berry’s You Can’t Catch Me – following in the potentially daunting footsteps of The Rolling Stones and John Lennon, she embraces it just as convincingly as rock and roll’s elite.