“It’s easier to work hard when you do it for your friends.”
Going from performing in front of your classmates at school to stepping on big international stages. This is the teenage dream that we see so much in movies and that in a matter of two years has come true for the Irish Florence Road.
If in March they published the EP ““Spring Forward” (Warner, 26) and since then songs like “Hanging Out To Dry” and, just a few days ago, “7563” have arrived, both already on their way to releasing their long-awaited album. Enough baggage to meet them as they pass through Barcelona.
From the sidewalk opposite I see Lily Aron, the band’s vocalist, leaving the hotel, along with guitarist Emma Brandon, bassist Ailbhe Barry and drummer Hannah Kelly. An unusually Irish sky hovers over the city: a gray and heavy vault that seems to have crossed the sea with them. In a matter of hours, Florence Road They will debut on our stages with an enthusiasm that will end up prevailing over the storm, managing to emerge successfully from the cancellations. “For us it’s crazy to perform here. In general, when people come to see us at festivals it’s like a big pat on the back. It doesn’t matter that they don’t know us, but that they leave thinking that they loved what we’ve done.”
“We started in a school environment where no one told us that four girls couldn’t do this.”
This confidence in their proposal is preceded by a long list of artists for whom they have already opened, among which are names like Wolf Alice, The Last Dinner Party, sombr and, of course, Olivia Rodrigo, from whom they learned great things. “She connects with the audience wonderfully. The most inspiring thing was seeing that a woman our age can have forty thousand people in a stadium in the palm of her hand, and totally rock it. Plus, she saw our entire set, and that made us very excited.” Like Olivia, a large part of the followers of Florence Road They found them through their covers on social networks, but this has not limited them to being pigeonholed as a TikTok phenomenon. “Our online presence has always been pretty silly and humorous. We’re always laughing, and we also love making people laugh, but that doesn’t mean we love making good songs. Luckily, we’ve been able to show that we take music very seriously.”
Although new bands constantly emerge, it is difficult to find a quartet in which talent is shared equally and that also share a friendship forged in the classrooms. For Lily, the secret to her success lies precisely in that balance. “Knowing each other for so many years helps us a lot when making difficult decisions, because it allows us to instantly intuit how the other person feels.” Breaking the solemnity of the moment, Hannah looks askance at her companions with a mischievous smile and adds: “Well, it’s easier to work hard when you do it for your friends. If I had faced this alone, I probably wouldn’t have worked the same way.”
This plural also includes a new generation of women rock fans for whom they have become a mirror, challenging a historically male monopoly. “In Ireland we had soloists like Sinéad O’Connor, but not complete female bands that had crossed borders. We didn’t hostilely burst onto the Dublin scene being the only women in a room; we started in a school environment where no one told us that four girls couldn’t do this”. Without limitations, Florence Road They began to shine, getting a producer as established as Dan Nigro, a key figure in the rise of Chappell Roan, to produce the song “Caterpillar” on their first mixtape. “Flow Back” (25). “In this situation we had to forget the credentials, so as not to get hysterical. In the end we have to understand that we are people in a room looking to connect as much as possible in a creative way, and it was fantastic to work with Dan.”
This year, with the release of his EP “Spring Forward”, Florence Road they once again weave the soundtrack of those who go through the first half of their twenties, a strange stage where maturity and innocence collide, but which “It becomes lighter when you can capture the weight of emotions in a song.” In his songs full of catchy melodies, the identity of his city, Bray, also beats strongly. “a loud place with a great sense of community”, that has influenced them both artistically and personally. “We went to a school where only Irish was spoken, and we continue to do so when we travel. It’s our special custom, and our way of maintaining connection with our roots.”
With fans and critics hungry at the same time, the Irish girls’ first album is still a long time coming, but concertgoers have already been able to hear some unreleased songs. “We love seeing the public’s reactions to the new songs, because it makes us think that we are on the right track with the album.” In the meantime, there’s still time to keep dreaming big. “We would love to have a male voice like Sam Fender and, why not, be headliners at Glastonbury”. With a statement like that, one could project the typical cookie-cutter artist obsessed with stardom. But the magic of Florence Road It is that its ambition is great, but its purity is even greater. So much so that when I ask them for a selfie, they answer me: “It’s a good thing you said it, because otherwise we would have asked you!”
