Florence Arman on Having the Freedom to Express herself through Creating Songs
“Good Girls” is a brilliantly captivating, and upbeat new single by Florence Arman. 'Good Girls' was made after Florence went through a difficult breakup and went to live with her song writer and producer brother, Sebastian. Florence says, “It was an incredibly healing time, and between watching films and eating prawns we also wrote “Good Girls”. “The single 'Good Girls' takes tongue-in-cheek storytelling to new levels. Florence has also released a wonderful music video to accompany the single. In conversation with Clique, Florence shares that the stories she tells aren’t the most interesting ones, but they are just the ones she needs to get off her chest. She writes songs mostly out of sheer therapeutic necessity, so she writes lyrics as and when she needs to work through or touch base with herself on something.
CLIQUE: How does it feel to have your single “Good Girls” out?
FLORENCE: It feels amazing! I’ve been waiting for such a long time for this song to come out, it’s very close to my heart.
CLIQUE: Does working with your brother on your songs help with the process because of the trust that has already been built between the two of you?
FLORENCE: Definitely. Sebastian and I have such a strong mutual understanding musically, probably also because he has influenced my music taste so much growing up. He got me my first mp3 player and always updated it with the music he was listening to.
CLIQUE: How much control of the creativity did you have when creating the music video?
FLORENCE: Initially the concept was something I came up with, but I was so lucky to find the directors Connor Wynn and Jack Stoten who got so creative with the idea and really transformed it. They are both so brilliant, so it was very easy to trust them with it and let them do their thing.
CLIQUE: What was your inspiration going in for the music video?
FLORENCE: My rubbish ex haha.
“The thing I love most is that there are no boundaries. It is absolute freedom to express oneself about anything in any way. It also seems like the meaning of the songs are seldom subject to judgement, no-one will invalidate anything you sing in a song, but they are more likely to when you say it in person.”
CLIQUE: What do you love the most when it comes to the storytelling aspect of creating songs?
FLORENCE: The thing I love most is that there are no boundaries. It is absolute freedom to express oneself about anything in any way. It also seems like the meaning of the songs are seldom subject to judgement, no-one will invalidate anything you sing in a song, but they are more likely to when you say it in person.
CLIQUE: Who is a singer/songwriter who you would love to collaborate with?
FLORENCE: I would love to work with Lewis Capaldi. His songs are great and I love his voice.
CLIQUE: What does the process of creating a song such as “Good Girls” look like for you?
FLORENCE: The process looks different for every song. But in this case I was at my brother’s one day and we were just jamming on the guitar and pretty much came up with most of the melodies on the spot within a few minutes. A few months later I found myself going through a tough breakup and started putting some lyrics to those melodies, and after we finally split up, my brother took me in and let me live with him for quite a while, so that’s when we finished the song together.
“I’m sure the stories I tell aren’t the most interesting ones, but they are just the ones I need to get off my chest.”
CLIQUE: What do you find the most interesting to tell stories about? How do you create that into a song?
FLORENCE: I’m sure the stories I tell aren’t the most interesting ones, but they are just the ones I need to get off my chest. I write songs mostly out of sheer therapeutic necessity, so I write lyrics as and when I need to work through or touch base with myself on something.
CLIQUE: How have you grown as an artist through the making of “Good Girls”?
FLORENCE: I think this is the first song I made that feels bold, maybe because I was pretty angry and thats not a sentiment I have a lot and not one I have written about before. But there’s a lot more where that came from!
CLIQUE: What can you tell us about your upcoming EP?
FLORENCE: My upcoming EP illustrates the emotional rollercoaster of the past 3 years of my life and a lot happened in that time - breakups, grief, pivotal realisations,… so lots of talk about!
Listen to Florence’s single 'Good Girls' on Spotify here, and also watch the music video for it on Youtube.
