Coffee House Sessions: Florrie

Earlier this month, upcoming pop starlet Florrie took to the Coffee House Session stage in student-run tea shop Curisotiea at the University of Warwick, as part of her 2-week tour. After years of listening to her EPs, many of which were self-released, I was pleasantly surprised to find out that she had been signed to Sony Music this year with hopes to release an album in 2015.

Despite assumptions, Florrie is not your typical pop singer. She is a multi-instruentalist who found fame initially in house drumming for the likes of The Pet Shop Boys and Kylie Minogue. Thereon she began to song write for some of the biggest names in pop, including Girls Aloud and The Saturdays. It is therefore no surprise that pop production house Xenomania (Cher, Texas) have been working with the talented singer for over 4 years now.

Due to Florrie’s electronic routes, I was intrigued to discover what she would sound like in an acoustic space; she did not disappoint. Armed with an acoustic guitar, cajon drum box, microphone and funky stripe jumper, she kicked off her six-song set with the anthemic ‘Live a Little’. The catchy upbeat track was surprisingly given a rework into a bluesy country-esque number that left the audience wanting more.

While Florrie does not generally perform covers, (probably due to her already extensive back catalogue) within a showcase environment it was pleasant to see the audience sing along to hits like ‘Budapest’, originally by George Ezra, and Imagine Dragons‘ ‘Radioactive’, a somewhat unexpected transformation into a haunting and poignant acoustic.  The highlight of the set, however, came from the performance of her latest single ‘Little White Lies’ that saw her light vocals become stronger with an exhilarated chorus, expressing deep relation to the passionate lyrics.

Due to Florrie’s electronic routes, I was intrigued to discover what she would sound like and acoustic space; she did not disappoint…

Florrie was clearly in her element strumming in a quaint and personal setting allowing her to thoroughly connect with her audience. Such a connection was made when she had taken a song request from an audience member earlier to perform a track from her first EP, ‘Left Too Late’. Originally a euphoric mid-tempo with a spellbinding chorus, Florrie altered it into an emotive ballad that allowed the lyrics of the track to shine through. To conclude the set, she performed the heart-felt ‘Galaxies’ that saw her proclaiming, “You wanna be loved now I know your mine, you wanna be loved like the first time” over a soft guitar rhythm. It was refreshing to hear a display of raw emotion and passion that echoed through Florrie’s vocals once more, again illustrating this sense of an intimate performance.

It just shows that upcoming performers do not require waves of pyrotechnics and typical chart-friendly dance tracks to stand out from the crowd. If an artist can transform their music to expose raw instrumental talent then Florrie is definitely one to watch. I certainly look forward to seeing her once again in 2015 and so do the numerous new listeners who attended this stripped-back session.