Florence And The Machine has confirmed details of their new album, High As Hope, which will be released on June 29 on Virgin EMI. The first official single, ‘Hunger’is out now, accompanied by stunning new video directed by AG Rojas.

‘Hunger’ already has the feel of a career-defining moment for Florence, pairing her intimate, rawly honest lyricism with a broader sense of acceptance, community and joy. ‘Hunger’ effectively acknowledges those holes in our pysche that we try to fill with love and hate, obsessions or addictions, but you can ultimately only ever satisfy yourself. As Florence herself puts it, "this song is about the ways we look for love in things that are perhaps not love, and how attempts to feel less alone can sometimes isolate us more. I guess I made myself more vulnerable in this song to encourage connection, because perhaps a lot more of us feel this way than we are able to admit. Sometimes when you can't say it, you can sing it."

‘Hunger’ is a startling introduction to the fourth Florence And The Machine album, which ventures into new territory as much as it reaches back to her roots. Florence started writing the record (which is also the first she has officially co-produced) in solitude in South London, routlinely cycling to her studio in Peckham every day to, as she puts it, “bang on the wall with sticks”. She took the songs to Los Angeles with her friend and co-producer Emile Haynie, opening them up along the way for collaboration with the likes of Kamasi Washington, Sampha, Tobias Jesso Jr, Kelsey Lu and Jamie xx. Florence mixed the record in New York, where the daily, reassuring view of that iconic skyline – often in stark contrast to the chaos of the wider world - gave the album its upbeat title.

High As Hope is a record that is as intimate as it is epic, with the more restrained sound - relatively speaking; Florence knows herself well enough now to declare “I’m never going to be minimal” - mirroring this sense that happiness doesn’t always have to be big and dramatic: it can often be found in the mundane, in the everyday things that aren’t always celebrated in songs. “There’s a lot of love in this record, loneliness too, but a lot of love.”

An album that mixes high and low – from a tribute to Patti Smith to being ghosted by a date– High As Hope is made up, says Florence, “of joy and fury”…but with the joy arguably winning out, in the end. “It’s always a work in progress, and I definitely don’t have everything figured out. But this feels like quite a pure expression of who I am now, as an artist, and an honest one. I’m just more comfortable with who I am.” And that is the beginning of a far longer journey of Florence Welch.

Florence + the Machine: ‘High As Hope’

1.     June

2.     Hunger

3.     South London Forever

4.     Big God

5.     Sky Full of Song

6.     Grace

7.     Patricia

8.     100 Years

9.     The End of Love

10.   No Choir

With a mix of sounds so unexpected that they could be Japanese, metal six-piece Silent Descent are pleased to reveal the next single taken from their album, Turn To Grey, titled 'Rob Rodda'. The album has had over 100,000 plays on Spotify since its release in November 2017 and this next single is the band's personal favourite from the release.

Having been a band now for over a decade, Silent Descent 's back catalogue is more than impressive; they’ve played numerous slots at Download, Full Force and Bloodstock Festivals. “’Rob Rodda’ is a huge film, comic and metal fan. He used to visit a shop I worked in and everyday he'd bring in weird and wonderful film props like lightsabers, masks or a replica machete from predator. He would've also worn/ wielded these items five minutes before entering the shop walking down Bromley high street.

Rob has a very extreme personality, he speaks his mind and often misinterprets how to approach social situations. Rob has had an extremely difficult background, he struggles to get work and, now he is legally an adult, society has all but turned their back on him. However, he has the most incredible outlook on life and such huge passion for bands and superhero films. He came into the shop one day and said 'Tom, you should write a song about how f***ing awesome I am!' and I thought it was a quality idea.

Today, with social media being at it's peak, people care so much about what others think of them. People can't go to the gym without taking a picture to show they've been there or eat out without taking a picture of their food. Rob is the anti-aesthetic, the guy we'd all be if we dare let the mask slip. Writing this song was kind of a social experiment to see how many people could relate to Rob. With its huge popularity (twice the amount of plays on Spotify than any of our other tracks) it could be said that underneath all the bulls**t, Rob's outlook on life is one we all share." - Tom Watling, Silent Descent vocalist.