The new must-read: Florence Welch

“Songs can be incredibly prophetic, like subconscious warnings or messages to myself, but I often don’t know what I’m trying to say till years later. Or a prediction comes true and I couldn’t do anything to stop it, so it seems like a kind of useless magic.” These are the words that preface Florence Welch’s new book, Useless Magic: Lyrics and Poetry, a highly personal collection of words and images that serve as a vital companion to her incredible, decade-old career.

In part, the book is a complete record of Welch’s lyrics – from her number-one albums, Lungs, Ceremonials and How Big How Blue How Beautiful, to the latest offering, High As Hope. It’s also a showcase of her poems – sharp and tender musings on love, life and longing, shot through with the dark romance her songs also shimmer with.

“The deepest, darkest well of pain, and then you just throw a big party in there and invite everybody” is how Oscar-nominated director Greta Gerwig describes Welch’s songs. This aptly hints at the addictive, relatable combination of drama and realism that Welch has cultivated musically since Florence + The Machine burst on to the scene in 2007.

Useless Magic evokes these big feelings visually, too, thanks to atmospheric portraits of the singer, reproductions of the fine art that inspires her, and Welch’s own never-seen-before notes and sketches. It’s a book with scrapbook-like charm that offers a tantalizing glimpse into the mind and creative process of a woman whose self-expression is fiercely compelling.

Useless Magic: Lyrics and Poetry is published on July 5