‘...imbued with a certain charm of innocence and adventure….Florence is most definitely heading in the right direction’ - w21 Music

‘(I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart’ (Jan. 24th) is the first single of the year from rising Country starlet Florence Sommerville. Delivered with the charm and ease of a Nashville veteran, ‘(I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart’ is a glimpse into the promising future of the 20-year-old singer-songwriter and taken from her forthcoming debut album due later this year. 

Florence Sommerville, a singer-songwriter from the small village of Orsett in Essex, thrives on modern country music. She’s been playing guitar since she was eight years old, writing songs since she was 12, and performed at open mics for most of her teenage years. When she was 14, she reached the final of the Open Mic UK competition held at the O2 Indigo Arena in London. She’s also played at several major festivals, including Latitude, Moseley Folk and Arts Festival, Maverick Festival, AMA Music Week (Nashville) and many listening venues around southern England. 

 Florence delivers with the charm and ease of a Nashville veteran. The journey to ‘(I’ll Be Your) Best Broken Heart’ has been the product of new experiences: her second trip to Nashville, an early co-write with multiple writers (Shantell Ogden, Corey Lee Barker) and her first time seeing a track come to life in the studio. The moody guitar and atmospheric pedal steel give the song a fully-rounded sound that complements Florence’s rich vocals, creating a fully-fledged and vibrant Country ballad that gives us a glimpse of what she is capable of so early on.

“I have to admit, I was quite nervous going into the session, as I had never written with more than one other person before and didn’t know how it would go. I had no reason to worry, as although Shantell and Corey write together fairly often, they made me feel very much at home and comfortable. Once we had started, the song just seemed to flow out of us all, and after only a couple of hours, we had an acoustic worktape of the track that doesn’t seem to have changed too much through all of the different stages of production.” Florence Sommerville 

In October 2023, Florence released her self-penned debut single, the aptly-titled On My Way, to widespread radio play across the UK and further afield. To a simple but effective acoustic-based arrangement, Florence’s rich, emotional voice takes the listener on a journey of self-discovery as she explores the anxieties and doubts of a young person as they make their way through life. That led to Florence  coming under the management of Alan Cackett, who arranged co-writing sessions in Nashville with hit songwriters Gary Burr, Sally Barris, Jan Buckingham and others last spring. 

A huge lover of country music, whilst in Nashville Florence also played the famed Commodore Grille, Hutton Hotel, Love & Exit and Tennessee Brew Works. Back home in Britain she has opened for such major stars as Diana Jones, Tom Robinson,  Annie Keating, Hannah Aldridge, Dan Owen and the Hanging Stars and sold out her debut London headline gig at the Camden Chapel last October.

There’s a raw, rootsy quality to Florence’s music that belies her youthfulness. She doesn’t arrive as the next ready-made country star beauty figure Barbie doll; there is an unquestionable realness in the way Florence makes sense of life through her music. An assured performer, she takes total command of any stage from the outset and allows her crystalline vocals to shine on her well-crafted original songs.  She exhibits a surety of mind beyond her years to create music that connects and inspires and that will inflame a growing fire.

UK TOUR DATES 

https://florencesommerville.com/#Tour 

 17th Jan - The Dog House Micro Pub and Vinyl Bar, Ashford

21st Jan - Green Note, London - Single Launch 

24th Jan - The Anchor Arts, Wingham 

25th Jan - Intense Records, Chelmsford, Essex

26th Jan - Brentwood Theatre

30th Jan – Chequer Mead East Grinstead

27th Feb -  Ram Jam Records Kingston upon Thames

https://florencesommerville.com/ 

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