British Alt Hip-hop band Monster Florence release their Groundhog Day inspired new single 'Borstal', out September 22nd through Project Melody Music
LISTEN TO ‘BORSTAL’ HERE
Having recently ended their two-year hiatus with the unapologetic single ‘Relax’, featuring legendary punk poet and fellow Colchester resident John Cooper Clarke and playlisted on Kiss Fresh, Monster Florence continue their vibrant form with the groove-filled new effort ‘Borstal’.
Bringing back more of that fresh and inventive direction they are known for, that looks to blend blistering hip-hop energy with a more distinctive and robust aesthetic, ‘Borstal’ sees them unveil one of their most original offerings to date. Channelling a smooth and shimmering production that bounces effortlessly off their broad and driven flows throughout, they are once again breaking boundaries and conventions with this enigmatic new gem.
Speaking about the new release, the group’s Dream Mclean said, “The main idea behind Borstal came about from the feeling of being stuck in time, kind of like a Groundhog Day situation where you’re imprisoned in a moment and you feel like you’re not moving. You’re in a perpetual cycle of being stuck in bad habits, and we wanted to put those sentiments into a song".
Hailing from Essex, the six-member band officially formed in 2015. What originally started off as a few studio sessions between producer Tom and vocalist Alex Osiris, who at the time was a buzzing solo artist on the hunt for some new tracks, soon turned into a full-blown musical project. However, Tom says it took a lot of convincing Alex before he finally stopped by his Rowhedge studio. “He thought it was just a bedroom set-up,” Tom remembers, “but once he saw that it was a professional studio, his attitude changed and so did how often he came by. He was there all the time.”
One of the pair’s first times working together saw Alex bring along long-time friends and fellow rappers Dream Mclean and Wallace Rice. The session also featured a surplus of live musicians, including drummer Cameron Morrell and multi-instrumentalist Jonny Poole. “It was a little overwhelming,” Dream admits, taken aback by the number of creatives in the studio at one time. But as the sessions went on, the number of musicians got progressively smaller until just six remained: Alex, Dream, Wallace, Tom, Jonny and Cameron. The same line-up that makes up Monster Florence today.
As a six-member group, each with their own diverse individual backgrounds and mixed bag of musical styles makes Monster Florence somewhat of an anomaly in today’s musical climate. While it was common in the ‘90s for there to be an influx of multi-member acts, these have become more rare as the years go on. But for Monster Florence, drawing from a multitude of genres: hip-hop, punk, indie, psychedelic rock and anything in between is what makes this band so unique. Much like The Flaming Lips, Wu-Tang Clan and Los Angeles collective Odd Future, their strength lies in numbers - even if it did take a little time to find their feet.
“We didn’t know where the creative lines were in the very beginning,” says Alex, recalling the sonic evolution of the group. “If you listen to the opening track on our first EP, ‘The Groove’, it’s a mash-up of everything. It’s every genre we could think of crammed into one record. We needed to learn how to refine our sound while keeping the same level of experimentation.” Monster Florence continued to fine-tune their sound, improving with each release. They released the EP ‘Bad Gear’ in 2016, followed by ’48’, which was a collaborative mixtape with UK rap luminaries Foreign Beggars, in 2017. But it was the release of their debut album ‘Foul’ in 2018 that proved the most significant in their development.
“That album was a huge turning point for us,” explains Tom. With six people comes six egos and six personalities, and Monster Florence had to learn not to be precious about their ideas when other members of the group weren’t into them. Jonny remembers working on a big stack of saxes that took him and Tom a long time to put together, only to be told to get rid of them. “Dream just walked in one day and told us to bin them,” he says. “He said it was too much and felt that we didn’t need them.” This newfound courage marked the start of a new era for Monster Florence, one that saw them more comfortable with challenging one another’s ideas, which brought to light a new level of creative chemistry.
At the beginning of 2020 Monster Florence signed a long-term worldwide deal with Project Melody Music, who are an independent label enterprise based in West London. The group’s first release via the label was ‘Cowboys and Idiots’, a double disc EP that includes the track ‘Picture Frame’, a love drunk stomper featuring Miles Kane. The track, penned by Alex and Tom, was originally created for the Last Shadow Puppets musician; however, Monster Florence liked it so much that they decided to keep it for themselves.
Monster Florence are:
Alex Osiris - vocals
Dream Mclean - vocals
Wallace Rice - vocals
Tom Donovan - production, guitars, keys, programming
Jonny Poole - sax, keys, guitar
Cameron Morrell - drums
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