Looks like Florence Welch is having some trouble shaking the devil off her back.

Earlier today, Florence + The Machine premiered the jaw-dropping new video for “No Light, No Light,” the third single from her second studio album Ceremonials, which was (fittingly) released on Halloween.

Voodoo, creepy church boys straight out of The Omen and distinctly Illuminati/Satanic-friendly undertones? Yep–looks like the work of our beloved Florence to me!

Watch as Ms. Welch is endlessly chased down by a dark-sided (and blue-skinned) demon creature, getting poked and prodded in rag-doll form until finally succumbing and taking a tumble from great heights. The cinematography is absolutely stunning, and Welch looks gorgeous playing the witchy songstress she so naturally is.

The perfect visual for a most perfect song? Methinks yes.

Oh, and another thing: I know I haven’t made a peep about Ceremonials, but trust me: I think it’s thoroughly brilliant. Epic. In fact, it’s a little too epic for me to handle. Every time I listen, I have to walk away for a while and collect myself. There’s just too much epic! I don’t know how, when or if I’m ever going to properly review that record–but it’s fucking ACE.

Ceremonials was released on October 31. (iTunes)

A few years ago, you could take a walk down to Bleecker Street and catch a show at a small venue called The Bitter End featuring back to back performances from two of Manhattan’s most up-and-coming artists: Stefani Germanotta and Lelia Broussard.

One would ultimately ask Cher to hold her meat purse and get blasted by Bette Midler for coming out on stage dressed as a mermaid in a wheelchair, while the other would be a final contender to be the first unsigned artist to grace the cover of Rolling Stone magazine.

On August 2nd, Rolling Stone will announce which unsigned artist will be the first to make the magazine’s cover – and the contest has narrowed its way down to two finalists. Will alt-rock quartet The Sheepdogs win or will the quirky Lelia flash her signature facial-warpaint on the most esteemed music journal in the biz?

If anyone is close to stealing Florence Welch’s crown as queen of the indie chanteuses, it’s Lelia Broussard. Ever since her most recent album, Masquerade, came out in November of last year, Lelia has exploded onto the scene. No, really. I challenge you to find a coffee shop, book store, or Forever 21 that doesn’t have her song “Satellite” (written about “a sad robot in love”) on constant loop.

On August 24th, Lelia will be performing a very special one-stop show at the Highline Ballroom in New York. I caught up with Lelia to talk about what to expect from the show, how the Rolling Stone contest has impacted her life, which one of the Spice Girls she most identifies with, and more.

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It’s that magical time of self-celebratory circle jerking again: The 2011 Grammy Awards!

And for the first time in, like, forever…it was mostly a good time! There were a lot of performances, and at least half of them were pretty entertaining.

Let’s take a walk through some of the more memorable moments of the night, shall we?

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OMFG It’s the 2010 MTV VMA’s–the glitz! the glamour! The meat purses!

Let’s cut the shit: The show was mostly boring. Taylor Swift sung a song about Kanye West, Kanye West sung a song about Kanye West, and no one gave a shit about Ke$ha.

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And now, the video for the seventh single off of Lungs (and my favorite song off of the entire album), “Cosmic Love.”

Florence Welch is a goddess. The video is as perfect as the rest of the campaign, and everything sparkles with the same energy and magic. The release of “Cosmic Love” as the final single from Lungs is truly the icing on the most scrumptious of cakes.

I can’t even handle the thought of the follow-up to this album…

There was a lot of love in the air this year at the BRIT Awards. Not between the artists and the hosts, God no!–there was hardly any of that going on between all the cracking, bitchy commentary–but rather for the audience. There was Cheryl Cole fighting for our love as only she knows how, Florence Welch delivering hers to us with the help of an unfortunate rap interlude, and yes–even Courtney Love herself.

Let us now cycle through some the best, worst, and weirdest moments of the night. Love to love you, baby!

10. In A UK State of Mind

Nothing is as epic sounding as when Jay-Z and Alicia Keys perform “Empire State of Mind” together, but watching one of the greatest modern celebrations of New York go down in Londontown felt a bit, err..off.

Then again, this may be due to Lil Mama‘s absence–you were truly missed tonight.

9. Doing it For The Adults

Host: “You’re performing a medley…doing some oldies?”

Robbie Williams: “Yeah, mostly oldies, because the new stuff’s shit.”

8. Over-saturated with Spice

At first came euphoria. Then nostalgia. Then, way too much of a good thing. It was wonderful seeing (two fifths) of the Spice Girls win their award for the “Best Performance in 30 Years” category, but it soon became clear that the producers of the show had few celebrities to help buy time between the performances aside from Mel B and Geri. Again and again, the cameras cut to one of the two, and each time, it got a bit more painful: Awkward banter about living in L.A.! Geri wishing she knew the words to a Lady Gaga song! Next time, just cut to a still frame of Victoria Beckham frowning for two minutes. Our lives would be better, I assure you.

7. JLS Wins

Twice. And no one cares (aside from the audible boos.)

6. Whoa-oh-oh, I’m on a Rocket (And Drugs!)

Lily Allen, who opted for the “Joan Collins on crack” look came in on a sadly sinking rocket while performing “The Fear,” and then it all just sort of fell to pieces from there. Dancers! And colors! And baby carriages! And now we’re stage left! And now over to the right! I don’t know what just happened, Lily’s got no clue where she is, and I think I just saw Lady Gaga and Courtney Love making out in the audience.

5. Can’t Read My Telephone Face

Looking a bit like the Bridge of Frankenstein twice dabbled in cocaine dreams, Mademoiselle Gaga indulged the audience in an acoustic version of “Telephone” (the song about getting drunk in the club was performed in tribute to Lee McQueen, interesting choice), before launching into an all-too anticipation ridden, fragmented rendition of “Dance in the Dark.”

Sadly, by the time the singer collapsed in vogue following the song’s, well, “Vogue”-esque breakdown, so too did the performance, effectively blue balling the entirety of Britain and cutting short what could have been an outrageously epic performance. Still, I loved the use of the free-standing keytar…and the towering statue of the pop star herself, of course.

Subtle, as per usual.

4. Everybody’s Starry Eyed

Ellie Goulding wins the Critic’s Choice Award! (Pictured here with producer and friend, Starsmith).

3. Lily Alkie

Lily Allen, now opting for the “Joan Collins on crack in an orange wig” look, came bumbling on stage to accept her award for British Female Solo Act. After accepting the award on stage came this moment of brilliance backstage:

Host: “How are you going to celebrate Lily?”
Lily: “I’m…uh…I don’t know. Drink, maybe.”

2. You’ve (Almost) Got the Love

Everything about Florence’s performance tonight was lovely and almost perfect: The flowing gown and fiery red hair, the spot-on vocals, the fluttering hearts that cascaded at the song’s finale. So why almost The daft choice to add Dizzee Rascal into the mix, resulting in what felt like long bursts of static disrupting a listening session of “You’ve Got The Love.” If only Dizzee wasn’t so busy buzzing around the stage like an overgrown gnat, this would have truly been the most lover-ly performance of the night.

All of my love to Florence for nabbing the most absolutely deserved “Album of the Year” award at the end of the night. I couldn’t be prouder!

1. Show Me The Love!

We’ve got the love, right here: Cheryl Cole’s showstopping performance of “Fight For This Love” was hands down the performance of the night. By the time the opening notes of Robin S‘s “Show Me Love” came sizzling in for a surprise remix (quickly followed by a flock of shirtless men) I was growing faint and Cheryl was growing even fiercer by the second. Shaking and crying, etc. etc. etc. AMAZING.

And now, the MuuMuse tweet of the night:

I don’t know who this Lady Gaga person is but he is on a ROLL tonight. #britawards

There’s more where that came from. Follow me on Twitter, Muusers!

As you may remember, Talking Heads‘ David Byrne and Fatboy Slim have teamed up with almost every brilliant female vocalist ever to concoct a musical concept piece based on Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines.

The song embedded above (“Here Lies Love”) is the prologue to the Imelda tale, as sung by Florence Welch. Byrne posted an excerpt from the album’s accompanying book which better explains the song’s meaning:

This song acts as a prologue and is sung from Imelda’s point of view in a style reminiscent of mid-to-late-’70s club music. She’s whooping it up at a disco, and at the same time she’s looking back on her life, her achievements, her sacrifices and her childhood. She’s also thinking ahead, imagining her legacy, what it might be.

“Here Lies Love” is nothing like Welch has recorded thus far; a kind of swelling, closing credits theme song mashed in between modern disco beats and timeless, romantic strings.

It’s nothing short of lovely (and no, the name of the song provides no bias in my analysis).

The album will be released on February 23. For more, check out the official release information on Byrne’s website. I’ve officially pre-ordered!

Photo courtesy of Consequence of Sound.

Oh. My. Word.

Norman Cook, otherwise known as Fatboy Slim, is about to unleash a monster of EPIC, lady-like proportions.

Here Lies Love, Cook’s collaborative effort with Talking Heads member David Byrne, is a concept album based on the life of Imelda Marcos, the First Lady of the Philippines from the 1960′s to the 1980′s.

But before you say to yourself, “God, not another concept album about Imelda Marcos,” take a quick peek at the collaborators being featured on this album:

Disc One:
01. Here Lies Love (feat. Florence Welch)
02. Every Drop of Rain (feat. Candie Payne & St. Vincent)
03. You’ll Be Taken Care Of (feat. Tori Amos)
04. The Rose of Tacloban (feat. Martha Wainwright)
05. How Are You? (feat. Nellie McKay)
06. A Perfect Hand (feat. Steve Earle)
07. Eleven Days (feat. Cyndi Lauper)
08. When She Passed By (feat. Allison Moorer)
09. Walk Like a Woman (feat. Charmaine Clamor)
10. Don’t You Agree? (feat. Róisín Murphy)
11. Pretty Face (feat. Camille)
12. Ladies in Blue (feat. Theresa Andersson)

Disc Two:
01. Dancing Together (feat. Sharon Jones)
02. Men Will Do Anything (feat. Alice Russell)
03. The Whole Man (feat. Kate Pierson)
04. Never So Big (feat. Sia)
05. Please Don’t (feat. Santigold)
06. American Troglodyte
07. Solano Avenue (feat. Nicole Atkins)
08. Order 1081 (feat. Natalie Merchant)
09. Seven Years (feat. Shara Worden)
10. Why Don’t You Love Me? (feat. Cyndi Lauper & Tori Amos)

Tracklisting courtesy of Consequence of Sound.

Can you handle it? Because I actually, quite literally, cannot.

Natalie Merchant! Florence! Róisín! Santi! Sia! Cyndi! SO GOOOOOD! Shaking and crying…shaking and crying.

What’s more is this quote from NME from Cook about the project: “Because the story is more about what was going on in [New York club] Studio 54 rather than what went on in the Philippines, we wanted to reflect that, so it’s kind of dance music based,” Cook told BBC 6 Music.

This is literally a dream come true…a very, very gay dream come true.