Alt-Hip-Hop band Monster Florence release their new album 'Master System' on February 10th through Project Melody Music
“A twisted love letter to our society and culture”
PRAISE FOR MONSTER FLORENCE
"Monster Florence have had such a brilliant BBC introducing journey and with this new release and previous one Relax we should be really really excited about new music from Monster Florence"
BBC 6MUSIC (Angelle Joseph)
"What separates the group from the plethora of different artists out there at the moment, is not only the bold lyrical content; but their fearlessness when it comes to production. Being considered genre fluid is something all artists seem to be aspiring to these days, but few are genuinely achieving this rarefied status."
GRM DAILY
"British hip-hop supergroup Monster Florence are sending more of their progressive sounds our way with their latest hit "Midnight Club".
TRENCH
"Back in 2020, we featured two tracks by Colchester-based collective Monster Florence. Their blend of jazz, hip-hop, soul and indie impressed us, alongside tastemakers Complex, NME, Clash, Trench, BBC 1Xtra, Radio 1 and Radio X. Now back with their second single of 2022, Borstal, the six-piece further demonstrates their understanding and skill in this vibrant and groove-filled new effort. Thoughtful and driven flows weave seamlessly against a lush, smooth, laidback, yet upbeat production."
RECORD OF THE DAY
"Always crossing genre boundaries and innovating, UK alternative hip-hop collective Monster Florence have earned a relationship for themselves as one of the most underrated and creative outfits in the region, crafting thought-provoking and memorable tracks that range from the anthemic to deeply thoughtful and reflective."
CLOUT
"Many of us may be aware that John Cooper Clark resides there nowadays, however not too many are aware of hip hop collective Monster Florence who have invited the genius poet onto their recent release Relax. It’s worth reminding (or informing) anyone that this band’s previous release featured Miles Kane, and is also well worth listening to if it either escaped your attention or you’re overdue hearing it again." - LOUDER THAN WAR
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After spending the last few months unleashing their explosive singles ‘Relax’, featuring legendary punk poet and fellow Colchester resident John Cooper Clarke, and their recent anthems ‘Borstal’, ‘Spaceman’ and ‘Midnight Club’, which have been collectively praised by the likes of BBC Radio 1’s Gemma Bradley and Nels Hylton, and BBC 6Music’s Angelle Joseph, Kiss Fresh, BBC Introducing, Amazing Radio and A&R Worldwide’s Passport Approved, UK alt hip-hop band Monster Florence have now delivered their eagerly-awaited new album Master System.
Following the enormous support for their 2020 EP ‘Cowboys & Idiots’, Monster Florence look set to make Master System their most impactful to date. Moving on sonically from their more recent offerings, this new collection sees them venture into unexplored territory to deliver a rousing album that blurs the lines of contemporary music, continuing to push their sound ever forward.
"We hang digital art on digital walls to impress digital friends, and meanwhile the world burns" explains the band.
"When we started this album there was a real reason to fear how we connect with the world and each other. Human interaction had a new digital middle-man. It’s shocking that in the short time since then it seems that those fears are now an absolute. With technology’s influence growing heavy and support weighing far less, it’s like society’s Richter scale has hit a new magnitude, a measure of the chaos I guess. Master System is a love letter to humans and what better way to explain love, than chaos? We wanted to make something that felt unsettled, but familiar. Nostalgic but broken, kind of like that N64 cartridge you had blown a million times before it worked - songs like ‘Bad Graphics’ are a perfect example of that. The album contains heavenly highs and catastrophic lows, held together by a genuine concern for the future. It asks more questions than it can answer. We’ll let you decide those. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did making it.", the band explains.
Showcased by a live version of album track "Wolf In A Woolly Hat" (Watch HERE) shot live at London's Lexington in December, this new offering perfectly illustrates the progressive nature we can expect on this new full-length. Blending their smooth and driven approach to hip-hop-inspired aesthetic, matched with a distinctive production throughout, they are maintaining their reputation as one of the more forward-thinking collectives on the scene today. It’s is an unrepentant, guitar-laden track about presenting the real you regardless of your flaws, anchored by a stellar verse from Wallace.
‘Master System’ Tracklist:
Widow
Bad Graphics
Borstal
Lag
Relax Featuring John Cooper Clarke
Somewhere (Interlude)
Spaceman
If Dreams Could Be Sold (Interlude)
Midnight Club
Jiggy Jiggy Featuring Dame
Tin Foil Girl
Wolf In A Wooly Hat
Do The Birds Still Sing In Hell? Featuring Louis The Hippie
Hailing from Essex, the acclaimed six-piece behind ‘Deck of Cards’, ’26 Ghosts’ & ‘Beautiful Death’ have spent the last decade defying genres with their critically revered blend of rap, alt pop, punk, indie, psychedelic rock and more. What originally started off as a few studio sessions between producer Tom and vocalist Alex, soon turned into a full-blown musical project.
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.
When Monster Florence first started working on the album there was no title in mind. It wasn’t until after they recorded the tracks ‘Bad Graphics’ and ‘Lag’ that a loose concept started to form; to create an immersive world through their music, it also happened to coincide with the coronavirus pandemic, a period that gave rise to a digital revolution and saw a wave of new online activities and assets start to dominate the global conversation: NFTs, live streams, crypto currency and the Metaverse being a few of them.
The album’s artwork depicts Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden - only they’ve been replaced by two androids. Artist Scribbler explains: “The robots in the Garden of Eden represent the idea of man playing God. Artificial intelligence, the metaverse and etc are, in a way, a crude mockery of the natural world and the way we interface with it. The forbidden fruit can speak to many temptations with eventual catastrophic consequences. Whether that be climate change or AI sentience, that’s up to you. It’s more an observation than a point of view”
‘Master System’ is awash with stand out moments, many of which bring about deliberation. “Is the ashtray full or is the ashtray half empty?” Alex asks on ‘Borstal’, one of the group’s personal favourite tracks. Armed with an addictive bounce, it finds Monster Florence with some rare unoccupied time to reflect on previous missteps and a variety of other topics, and it marks the first time the group “set out to write a tune in a particular way and smashed it”.
“With this new album, I feel like we’ve arrived at a place where we’re a single unit working together,” says Dream, speaking about the group’s collaborative symmetry. “It feels more cohesive than a lot of our previous work; it’s without doubt our best work to date.” Tom adds: “We’re constantly evolving, and this album is the perfect example of that growth. I’d love to be in a situation where I hadn’t heard the album yet because that first listen is a real treat."
“Until recently, we didn’t think you could flourish by doing something a little left field. Our main goal is to continue to do that, push things forward and usher in new ways of doing things; that’s more important to us than having a Number One single.”
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
https://www.instagram.com/monsterflorence/