Florence + The Machine is one of the most emotionally powerful and artistically bold acts in modern alternative rock. Led by the incomparable Florence Welch, the band has consistently delivered songs that feel equal parts theatrical and deeply personal. Whether you’re a longtime fan or just discovering their music, this curated list of the 20 best Florence + The Machine songs of all time is the perfect place to start — and if you love exploring great music through great sound, check out our guide on the best headphones for audiophiles to get the most out of every listen.
Dog Days Are Over
Released on their debut album Lungs in 2009, “Dog Days Are Over” remains one of Florence + The Machine’s most universally recognized anthems. The song builds from a delicate folk introduction into a thunderous, euphoric explosion of percussion and layered vocals, capturing a feeling of liberation that is impossible to shake. It set the tone for an entire career defined by grandiose emotional release and became the song that introduced millions of listeners worldwide to Florence Welch’s singular voice.
Shake It Out
“Shake It Out” from the 2011 album Ceremonials is a song about letting go of guilt and darkness, wrapped in the band’s most lush and cinematic production to date. Florence’s voice reaches extraordinary heights on this track, pushing against walls of reverb-drenched instrumentation that feel almost spiritual in their intensity. The chorus is an invitation — raw, urgent, and undeniably cathartic — making it one of the most emotionally resonant songs in their entire catalog.
Never Let Me Go
A deeply aquatic and haunting ballad from Ceremonials, “Never Let Me Go” blurs the lines between surrender and liberation in Florence Welch’s characteristically poetic fashion. The production is oceanic, with swelling strings and a slow-burning rhythm that pulls the listener beneath the surface alongside her. It stands as one of the band’s most quietly devastating songs, proving that Florence + The Machine doesn’t always need bombast to make a profound impact.
Cosmic Love
“Cosmic Love” from Lungs is a song built on stargazing and heartache, with one of the most beautifully understated arrangements in their discography. The interplay between the acoustic guitar, harp, and Florence’s voice creates a fragile intimacy that contrasts brilliantly with the song’s massive emotional scope. Lines about darkness and constellations feel genuinely celestial, making this track a fan favorite that has endured well beyond its original release.
Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)
One of the most compulsively melodic songs in the Florence + The Machine catalog, “Rabbit Heart (Raise It Up)” from Lungs combines folk urgency with mythological imagery in a way that feels both ancient and completely fresh. The driving harp and percussion push the song forward with relentless energy, while Florence’s voice takes on an almost sacrificial quality that gives the lyrics additional weight. It remains a fan-favorite live performance piece that never fails to electrify a crowd.
No Light, No Light
From Ceremonials, “No Light, No Light” is a song about spiritual emptiness and the desperate search for human connection in its most anguished form. The production is vast, featuring gospel choir arrangements that amplify the sense of longing in every word Florence delivers. It is a song that rewards close listening, with lyrical depth and musical complexity that reveals more of itself with each repeated play.
Seven Devils
“Seven Devils” was written for the television series Game of Thrones and later appeared on Ceremonials, instantly becoming one of the band’s most cinematic and darkly epic compositions. The slow, deliberate build of the song creates a sense of creeping dread that is unlike anything else in their catalog, with Florence’s vocal delivery taking on a prophetic, almost incantatory quality. It is the perfect marriage of dark storytelling and musical drama, and it remains one of the most evocative songs they have ever recorded.
Which Witch
From the 2015 album How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, “Which Witch” is a track that leans fully into Florence Welch’s long fascination with witchcraft, mythology, and feminine power. The production is dense and layered, with percussion that thunders beneath her voice like a ritual drum circle, giving the song a raw, almost primal energy. It is one of the standout deep cuts from an underrated album, and it showcases the band’s ability to create music that feels genuinely dangerous and alive.
What Kind of Man
The lead single from How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, “What Kind of Man” marked a striking shift toward a more direct, rock-forward sound for Florence + The Machine. The song’s riff-driven energy and emotionally blunt lyrics about a damaging relationship gave it an urgency that distinguished it from the more sprawling productions of earlier records. It proved that Florence Welch could strip things back and still deliver a track that hits with the force of a wrecking ball.
Queen of Peace
Also from How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful, “Queen of Peace” is a sweeping, operatic piece that balances intimacy and grandeur in perfect proportion. Florence’s vocal performance here is one of the most controlled and powerful of her career, rising and falling with breathtaking precision over a bed of strings and brass. The song builds to a conclusion that feels genuinely triumphant, cementing it as one of the album’s emotional centerpieces.
Hunger
From the critically acclaimed 2018 album High as Hope, “Hunger” opens with what might be Florence Welch’s most immediately confessional lyric, setting the tone for an album that was far more stripped-back and emotionally exposed than anything before it. The production is sparse yet cinematic, allowing her voice to occupy the center of the frame in a way that earlier records rarely permitted. “Hunger” is the rare song that feels simultaneously like a wound and a healing.
Big God
“Big God” is a glacial, tension-filled track from High as Hope that draws on themes of absence, silence, and the quiet devastation of being ignored by someone you love. The song moves slowly and deliberately, building its emotional payload over several minutes before arriving at a release that feels almost physically overwhelming. It is experimental, bold, and deeply personal — emblematic of the artistic risks that made High as Hope such a significant artistic statement.
Sky Full of Song
Another highlight from High as Hope, “Sky Full of Song” is a dreamlike piece that captures the sensation of being overwhelmed by beauty and feeling, as if the world itself is too much to contain. Florence’s voice floats over minimal instrumentation with an airiness that makes the song feel genuinely weightless, yet the emotional content underneath is dense and complex. It is the kind of song that sounds like it was written in a single breath, even as it carries the weight of a thousand unspoken feelings.
My Love
From the 2022 album Dance Fever, “My Love” is one of Florence + The Machine’s most sonically ambitious and daring recent releases, blending folk, art rock, and theatrical drama into something completely singular. The song’s arrangement evolves over its runtime in unexpected ways, keeping the listener perpetually off-balance while Florence’s vocal performance anchors everything with extraordinary emotional clarity. It was immediately embraced by fans as one of the defining songs of their most recent era.
King
“King” from Dance Fever is a raw, defiant meditation on womanhood, creative sacrifice, and the particular cost of choosing art over convention. Florence Welch delivers the song with a directness and vulnerability that makes it one of her most nakedly honest performances to date, supported by a minimal, hypnotic production that refuses to let the listener look away. It is a song that feels genuinely necessary — a feminist statement delivered through music of rare precision and power.
Heaven Is Here
One of the most exhilarating moments on Dance Fever, “Heaven Is Here” channels the energy of a live performance into its very structure, evoking the feeling of losing yourself completely in a crowd and a song. The production is expansive and breathless, with Florence’s voice soaring above waves of sound that feel almost physically immersive. It is a reminder that, even after more than a decade of recording, Florence + The Machine can still find new ways to make their music feel transcendent. If you want to experience songs like this at their fullest potential, exploring the right earbuds for immersive listening can genuinely transform the experience.
Free
“Free” from Dance Fever is a meditation on liberation and the strange peace that comes after a period of intense creative and personal upheaval. Recorded partly during a period of global lockdown, the song carries a particular weight — the longing for movement, connection, and release filtered through Florence Welch’s extraordinary capacity for transforming personal experience into universal emotion. It is one of the most quietly devastating songs in their recent catalog and a testament to their continued artistic growth.
Drumming Song
From Lungs, “Drumming Song” is one of Florence + The Machine’s earliest explorations of obsession and desire, built around a relentless percussive pulse that mirrors the racing heartbeat described in the lyrics. The production feels urgent and slightly feverish, with Florence’s voice pushing against the rhythm in a way that generates tremendous kinetic energy. It remains one of the most compulsive and replayable tracks in their entire discography and is a staple of their live set for good reason.
Girl With One Eye
A raw, almost feral track from Lungs, “Girl With One Eye” showcases a darker and more gothic side of Florence + The Machine that is sometimes overshadowed by their more anthemic work. The song’s sparse arrangement and Florence’s unrestrained vocal delivery give it a theatrical, almost operatic quality that feels simultaneously intimate and enormous. It is the kind of deep cut that devoted fans cite as proof of the band’s willingness to explore genuinely unsettling emotional and sonic territory.
Breath of Life
Written for the 2012 film Snow White & The Huntsman, “Breath of Life” is one of Florence + The Machine’s most cinematic and narratively rich recordings, composed to reflect the epic scope of the film while retaining the band’s distinctive emotional intensity. Florence’s vocal performance across this track is among the most technically impressive of her career, navigating enormous dynamic range with complete control and conviction. It demonstrated that the band’s sound was perfectly suited to grand, mythological storytelling and earned them a whole new generation of fans in the process.
For more incredible song discoveries and curated music content, explore the full collection at GlobalMusicVibe’s songs section.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Florence + The Machine’s most popular song?
“Dog Days Are Over” from the 2009 debut album Lungs is widely considered Florence + The Machine’s most popular and recognized song globally. It has been featured in major films, television series, and sporting events, and consistently ranks at the top of fan polls and streaming charts. The song’s combination of folk intimacy and explosive anthemic energy made it an instant classic upon its release and has only grown in cultural significance in the years since.
What album should I start with if I’m new to Florence + The Machine?
Lungs, released in 2009, is the ideal starting point for new listeners because it contains several of the band’s most beloved and accessible songs, including “Dog Days Are Over,” “Rabbit Heart,” “Cosmic Love,” and “Drumming Song.” It offers an immediate sense of Florence Welch’s vocal power, the band’s love of harp and percussion-driven arrangements, and the mythological lyrical themes that define their work. From there, Ceremonials and Dance Fever offer natural progressions deeper into their catalog.
Has Florence + The Machine released any new music recently?
Yes, Dance Fever released in 2022 is their most recent studio album and has been widely praised by critics and fans alike. It contains standout new tracks including “My Love,” “King,” “Free,” and “Heaven Is Here,” all of which demonstrate that Florence + The Machine continues to evolve artistically and push creative boundaries. The album was informed by Florence Welch’s personal experiences during the pandemic period and represents one of the most distinctive and emotionally complex works of their career.
Why is Florence + The Machine considered unique among rock bands?
Florence + The Machine occupies a genuinely singular position in modern music because of the way the band blends folk, art rock, gospel, chamber pop, and theatrical elements into a sound that resists easy categorization. Florence Welch’s voice is one of the most technically accomplished and emotionally expressive in contemporary music, capable of conveying enormous vulnerability and raw power within the same performance. This combination of musical eclecticism and deeply personal, poetic lyricism has earned them a devoted fanbase and critical reputation that very few of their peers can match.