If 2009 was billed as the year of the girls, then Florence Welch was undoubtedly the eccentric, free-spirit-made-good.
Whereas La Roux, Little Boots and many of the other female singers Florence is often grouped with are happy to play pure pop, the leader of Florence and the Machine (nobody knows, or seemingly cares, about the Machine) has followed her own quirky, idiosyncratic path that, though divisive, has been embraced by the mainstream.
Since winning the prestigious Critics Choice Brit Award last February, Florence has become ubiquitous in both the U.K. music and tabloid press, helped considerably by a unique dress sense (there's no-one else pulling off the second hand, ostentatious Victorian-chic look), a succession of famous friends and a cover of the Candi Staton classic "You've Got the Love," which has been as unavoidable as Florence herself.