Florence and the Machine Recruit Ethel Cain for Live Version of ‘Morning Elvis’
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Florence and the Machine recruit rising singer-songwriter Ethel Cain for a new rendition of “Morning Elvis,” the closing track from the band’s 2022 LP Dance Fever.
Florence Welch and “fellow goth enthusiast” Cain, whose “American Teenager” was one of Rolling Stone’s 100 Best Songs of 2022, recorded the new version live during the band’s recent Denver, Colorado concert.
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“I was giggling when we rehearsed the song just the two of us before the show because Florence told me that ‘Morning Elvis’ was her channeling her inner Southern rocker, and I told her I couldn’t stop myself from emulating her British accent on certain words. It felt like a holy convergence happening in a basketball arena,” Cain said in a statement.
“Florence’s dressing room smelled like powder and sage, and we were both dressed in white, singing our lines back and forth to each other, and I felt like I was back in choir practice, but with an actual angel this time. She’s never not smiling, and if you would have told me we were the only two people in the entire venue while we sang it in the middle of her set, I would have believed you.”
Welch said of the collaboration in a statement, “‘Morning Elvis’ is a song about the power of performance. Of rock and roll tragedy and transcendence. And it’s a sign of a truly special artist when they make a cover their own. When [Ethel] sung this song it felt like it was hers. She really gave it that outlaw energy. Like witches of the Wild West. I even threw more lines at her on the day because her tone and cadence was so perfect I wanted to hear more. And she did not miss a line even with only an hour to rehearse.”
Cain’s breakout debut album, Preacher’s Daughter, arrived earlier this year.
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