Florence + The Machine's 'Ceremonials' Turns 10

On October 28, 2011, Florence + The Machine released their second studio album, Ceremonials. As the album turns ten, celebrate with these facts.

 

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1. The album’s name was inspired by a 1970’s art installation. Frontwoman Florence Welch told MTV News that, “It was an art installation done in the ’70s, this video piece all done on Super 8, this big procession of kind of coquette-style hippies and all these different-colored robes and masks, and it was all to do with color, really saturated, brightly colored pastas and balloons. I saw it a couple of years ago, and it was called ‘Ceremonials’ and then, like, Roman numerals after it. And the word sort of stuck with me, and I think the whole idea of performance, and kind of putting on this outfit and going out almost to find some sort of exorcism or absolution, to kind of get outside yourself, there’s a sense of ceremony to it.”

2. It was initially called Violence because Welch “wanted to make an album that sounded like the soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann’s Romeo + Juliet, the violence mixed with the classical Shakespearean drama mixed with the pop and the pulp, extreme neon stuff.”

3. It was recorded at Abbey Road studios with the help of Paul Epworth, an English producer who has worked with Adele, Foster the People, Lorde, U2, Coldplay, Lana Del Rey, and more.

4. “Shake It Out” was inspired after Welch came into the studio for a recording session hungover. She told MTV News “I was thinking of regrets, like, you know when you feel like you’re stuck in yourself, you keep repeating certain patterns of behavior, and you kind of want to cut out that part of you and restart yourself. […] So this song was kind of like, ‘Shake yourself out of it, things will be OK,’. [Because] sometimes I have to write songs for myself, reminding me to let it go. But then, the end refrain of ‘What the hell’ is really important as well, because you’ll dance with the devil again at some point, and maybe it will be fun. I’ve heard he does a really good foxtrot.”

5. Ceremonials earned the nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards, while “Shake It Out” was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance.

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