Florence and the Machine

Florence and the Machine pop into to the Brixton Academy for two sell-out gigs as part of their UK tour to promote debut album Lungs. If you haven't yet heard of eccentric flame-haired singer Florence Welch's band then you must have been out of the country for the last 10 months. Back in February Florence won the Critics Choice gong at the Brit Awards having recorded only two songs. Instead of basking on her laurels, a debut album was hastily composed before Florence embarked on the 2009 Shockwaves NME Awards tour and a support slot beside Blur for the band's summer reunion gigs. On the back of exhilarating new single Rabbit Heart, Florence then delivered that show-stopping performance at Glastonbury - a week before Lungs hit the shelves. The album received rave reviews, with The Independent saying: "If Lady Gaga is the next Madge and La Roux the new Kylie, then Welch is nothing short of a 21st-century Kate Bush." In fact, only Michael Jackson kept the record off the top of the UK charts, where it stayed 2nd for five weeks with The Times describing the Camberwell-born Miss Welch as "the most peculiar and most highly acclaimed female singer of the moment". As 2010 approaches, the world seems to be Florence's oyster.