FEATURE:
Don’t Worry Baby
Imagining a Florence Pugh Album
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I cannot say enough great things…
about the wonderful Florence Pugh. Alongside some end-of-year pieces, Spotlight features, Kate Bush stuff and some Christmas bits, I want to put in some more ‘random’ articles. Pugh is, without doubt, one of the greatest actors of her generation. I would go as far to say that she is the very best! Stealing every scene she is in from Don’t Worry Darling, The Wonder and Lady Macbeth, her range is phenomenal! With one of the most wide-ranging filmography under her belt, Pugh is an absolute sensation! At only twenty-six, she will be owning the screen for decades more. In addition to picking up Oscars and maybe directing films herself, I think Pugh will be compared to screen icons from the 1940s and 1950s. Undeniably one of the world’s most beautiful women and someone who always gives such compelling and intelligent interviews, she is one of the world’s great treasures! The best thing in every film she acts in, it is fascinating to see where her career will head. At the moment, The Oxford-born actor divides her time between the U.K. and U.S. I can imagine she will make a permanent move to the U.S. and lay roots down there as her career explodes. Pugh did perform With You All the Time in the Olivia Wilde-directed film, Don’t Worry Darling. Pugh has an amazing voice, and I think that her deeper speaking voice means that, as a singer, she would produce such an intoxicating, smoky and remarkable solo album. I titled the feature ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ because, not only is it a play on Don’t Worry Darling, but I think Pugh would cover that Beach Boys song exceptionally. It seems ready-made for her. I am going to go on a brief tangent before coming to my main point. I don’t think Florence Pugh has been in any music videos yet. She has also not directed, but I think she is so naturally gifted that she would make for a remarkable and hugely innovative director.
Pugh has revealed before some of her favourite music. As an actor capable of nailing any accent she needs to and inhabiting this vast array of very different characters so beautifully, I think that she would make an awesome and hugely respected artist. She has filmed cover versions as Flossie Rose a way back now, so she has that experience. I am not sure whether Pugh would write songs herself but, when it comes to actors crossing into music, there have been plenty of success stories. Suki Waterhouse and Maya Hawke are just two examples of actors who are equally talented as artists. From Jazz and Folk classics through to Rock anthems and Pop, I don’t think there is anything Pugh could not sing. Whilst it may be easier to see her more as a Jazz singer, I actually feel Pugh’s natural vocal range means she could dominate any genre. It seems that, in 2023, we may well see a Florence Pugh album. Digital Spy explain more:
“Don't Worry Darling and Marvel Cinematic Universe star Florence Pugh has revealed plans to record and release her debut album.
The actress performed cover songs on YouTube under the name Flossie Rose before finding fame for her performance in Lady Macbeth.
Appearing on BBC Radio 4's This Cultural Life, the actress talked about how she's let music fall by the wayside a bit, but intends to dive back into it big time.
She has written a few songs for an upcoming film project, former boyfriend Zach Braff's A Good Person, and intends to use that momentum going forward.
"A few songs I'll release first [and] I intend to continue that relationship with the producers and I intend to release music," she told host John Wilson.
"It's something that I have been so conscious of ever since my acting career kind of [took off]. I do miss it and I do miss performing. I've lost confidence in it because I haven't been doing it. And I know that if I don't do it, the lack of confidence will only get worse and I just need to give it a go."
Pugh added that she would have actually "put money on being a singer-songwriter way before being an actor", before adding: "To me being an actor was so far away. I knew that I could do it, but I didn't know how to get there.
"Whereas me with my guitar being recorded and going on YouTube, and performing on stage and doing gigs was way more accessible. That was always the thing that I thought I was going to do and then I did this leaflet audition and it just completely went 180 [degrees]."
Coming up, Pugh will be appearing in Dune: Part Two, Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer and an adaptation of East of Eden”.
Someone who could also go into musical theatre and belt out these amazing and moving songs, there are so many possibilities ahead of Florence Pugh. I am excited to think that she will release an album, as her voice is so beautiful. Such expression, depth and soul, so many people will be interested to see how that extends to music. Maybe it will be covers or original songs, but a mixture of the two would be interesting. Pugh clearly has an eclectic mix of tastes, and she has mentioned Wonderwall as an important track (and she has covered it previously). I would love to see what she would do with the Oasis classic! From what we have heard so far of her singing, people are in for a treat! Someone who had desires to be a singer-songwriter before acting, she could genuinely make a very successful career of it. As she is very much in demand, I wonder whether she could balance the two. As I say, actors like Maya Hawke manage to do it, and you know Florence Pugh would put her heart into something she is deeply passionate about. Whether putting her stamp on songs like Wonderwall or Don’t Worry Baby, doing originals or hopping between genres, I am so excited to picture this first Pugh solo album! As it is at least eight years since Pugh released videos to YouTube as Flossie Rose, her voice has developed and she has that acting experience under her belt. Phenomenal at everything she does, I think a Florence Pugh album would be…
SIMPLY wonderful.