Dance Fever

In its commitment to euphoria, Dance Fever is an album that looks forward to the release of all the pandemic’s pent-up energy at this summer’s festivals. ... I hope she never learns to keep a lid on her wonderful wildness.

An explosive expression of unity in the face of strife and an exuberant expression of hope. ... But beneath the pomp and circumstance, Welch is traditionally known for, Dance Fever is a deeper look at a woman who unapologetically bares it all.

A dance party to release your demons to, they cast yet another lyrically beautiful and musically capitulating spell.

It boasts some of her strongest singles ever, and, coming at the end of a four year break and a two year pandemic, it’s not the theatrical Welch who shows up here; this is a woman and a songwriter, no forest-sprite.

Welch's powerful vocals shine on this record through anthemic synthpop, baroque pop and folk balladry, as the band experiment with new textures, aligning with the inspiration drawn from the Pre-Raphaelite tradition of embracing contrast within art.

She's taken a great leap forward at the very moment one was required. [Jul 2022, p.89]

For the most part ‘Dance Fever’ is an expert revamp from one of alternative music’s torch-bearing misfits, a welcome shot of fairy-tale hedonism ripe for post-pandemic dancefloor indulgence.

The album takes a step back from the vast productions of Welch’s most famous work, with nods to the Rolling Stones (Dream Girl Evil) and plenty of unexpected chiaroscuro, the better to foreground her luxuriant voice.

Dance Fever is a startling return, full of all the elements which made us sit up and take notice of Welch in the first place.

While this effort may not be Welch's surprise transformation into a full-on pop diva, Dance Fever is a generous offering to the goddesses of dance and restorative energy.

Dance Fever is a worthy addition to the band’s catalog, with enough moments to be plucked for what will surely be an invigorating series of live shows beginning in September. It’s a sly and polished effort, sustained by Welch’s fearlessness both in vocal technique and lyrical vulnerability. No modern artist commands such power in both moments of ethereal humanity and mountainous throttle.

It feels like a joyous, slowly unfurling epiphany. It’s a gift to be able to listen in.

When a band have been so focused on their brand for as long as Florence + The Machine have, it’s easy for them to box themselves in, muting their power; instead, Dance Fever is the sound of a band finding an escape route, rediscovering what makes them special.

Dance Fever is as propulsive as any Florence and the Machine album, but its momentum sometimes feels unearned.

Dance Fever sounds like Welch’s most conceptual album yet, but in a fashion that allows the most catharsis her work has conjured since “Shake It Out”. Although much more theatrical than the honest but somehow boring High as Hope, this record asks its listener to sit a bit with the noise in our heads that might usually make us so uncomfortable.