Spotify unveils the world's first 'tapestry billboard' to promote Florence + The Machine album

The more digitised our society and social lives become, the more we crave older, analogue forms of media. So along with streaming music, audiences are also turning back to vinyl and even cassettes to regain that physical, haptic connection with their favourite artists. But Spotify has reached back even further into the past, immortalising singer Florence Welch as an 18th-century tapestry.

Written By: Tom May

23 May 2022

Hand holding smartphone displaying a detail of the tapestry while the full woven artwork of Florence Welch styled as a Pre-Raphaelite figure is visible behind it

Unveiled at Dulwich Picture Gallery in London to promote the singer's Florence + The Machine's fifth studio album, Dance Fever, the artwork is believed to be the world's first tapestry 'billboard'.

The three individual 2x2 metre woven tapestries have been hanging in the picturesque gardens of Dulwich Picture Gallery, where Florence performed in 2017. And they reflect the lyrical inspiration Florence found in Pre-Raphaelite art when penning Dance Fever, the band's first album in four years, during the lockdown in London.

Three woven tapestries depicting Florence Welch in Pre-Raphaelite style hang in display cases in the gardens of Dulwich Picture Gallery, with a white building and climbing ivy visible behind them

Three woven tapestries depicting Florence Welch in Pre-Raphaelite style hang in the gardens of Dulwich Picture Gallery, with one labelled Dance Fever visible on the left

The tracks on the album reflect the aspects of life Florence missed most during the lockdown, from clubs to dancing at festivals and the expression of creativity through art and movement.

"Pre-Raphaelite art has been a musical and artistic inspiration for years, brought to life most recently through the lyrics and album creative in Dance Fever," said Florence at the opening ceremony. "To be transported back to my favourite era and reimagined in the style of the leading women who inspired Rossetti and Hunt is a dream I never imagined, on top of being hung in one of my most loved galleries in my hometown, south London."

Woven tapestry featuring Florence Welch in Pre-Raphaelite style with long brown hair and purple flowers, framed by ornate green border with "Dance Fever" text below, partially obscured by foliage

Close-up of Florence Welch's face woven into an 18th-century style tapestry, showing fine textile detail and her contemplative expression

Jennifer Scott, director at Dulwich Picture Gallery, added: "The Dance Fever Tapestries featuring Florence are a perfect complement to our latest exhibition Reframed: The Woman in the Window, which explores the recurring motif of 'the woman in the window' through history with over 50 works by artists including Rembrandt van Rijn, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Louise Bourgeois, Kudzanai-Violet Hwami and Rachel Whiteread.

"Florence herself is a modern-day representation of Pre-Raphaelite muses like Sir John Everett Millais's Ophelia. Five years on from her exclusive concert here in 2017, we are thrilled to have the Tapestries hanging in our gardens."

Spotify has also collaborated with Florence to create a special 'album experience' on the app, giving fans exclusive content from Florence about her creative process and inspiration. You can listen to the album here and Reframed: The Woman in the Window continues until 4 September.