Florence Rose runs with the wolves

Florence Rose invites us to kneel before the altar of emotion, where lust and love entwine as sanctified rites. Within this ritual, the London-based filmmaker, model, and musician softly pulls us into the aural and cinematic universe around her debut EP, My Lust Is My Religion. Through the themes of female rage, devotion, and forbiddenness, the body of work gently spirals through yearning and catharsis. Rose’s longing, magnetic voice toys with the trope of feminine helplessness, blurring fragility with something macabre and subversive hidden underneath. In celebration of the recent release, Rose warmly welcomes me into her home – a safe space that echoes the melancholic solace of her art. Wearing a dress printed with lyrics from I Am Your Daughter (a gift from her dear friend), she radiates both tenderness and defiance. Together, we dissect the meaning of girlhood, the sacred pull of believing in something greater than yourself, and the liberation of surrendering to our most primal, aching desires.

How are you today?

I’m good. Happy about my album being in the world. 

Congratulations! How are you feeling? It’s only been, what, three days? 

Yeah, I think it has been three days. It’s funny – I’ve been working on it for so long and gearing myself up for it so much that it almost feels like the end of the project. But now it’s out, so I guess it’s kind of the beginning of the project to everyone else. 

Yeah, now the album starts a life of its own. I’ve really enjoyed listening to it, but I also love the title. What inspired My Lust Is My Religion? 

Thank you! So, the song with the album’s name came after I had already decided on the title. I wanted an interlude, something cinematic – which isn’t really typical for an EP, but it ended up becoming more of an album anyway. I honestly don’t know exactly where the name came from, but it emerged around the same time I wrote the first song, I Am Your Daughter. That song is very much about lust – something more intense and obsessive than love. I wanted to explore lust and love as forms of religion. There are religious themes running through the album, particularly in two songs, but I’m speaking more about loving someone or something treated as a kind of religion.

It’s interesting, because “lust” carries very primal, shallow, and sinful associations. Do you view lust as something that has the potential to be emotionally meaningful as well, like a more extreme degree of love?

Yeah, it can be deeply emotional as well. I chose the word “lust” partly because of its darker connotations and, like you said, its connection to sin. I enjoy playing with that. Also, my aesthetic leans into the darker side. When I wrote the song that inspired the album title, I was really interested in spiritual psychosis – when someone becomes so obsessively religious that they believe God is speaking directly to them or through them.

What does religion mean to you? 

I’m religious, but not in an organised way. I suppose my approach is more spiritual. For me, it’s about love as a means of recognising something greater than yourself and your own world. I understand why some people reject religion – often for valid, traumatic reasons – but I think there’s something beautiful about believing in something bigger. It’s a bit like, do you really only want yourself to matter? Whenever I feel anxious or stressed, the belief that everything happens for a reason can also be comforting.

I feel like we’ve become too obsessed with our own egos – we want to feel like we’re in absolute control of everything, but that also drives us insane. Coming back to the EP, how did you approach creating the sound of the project?

While making this record, I was really into dark, sexy, obsessive, desperate sounds. I love Portishead because their sound is sexy, but also dark. They remind me of the colour navy blue. Beth Gibbons’ voice feels like she’s begging for attention, and I love Björk for similar reasons: her sound is crunchy and crazy, but her voice is so sensual, almost like she’s pleading. They heavily influenced me, but there are also experimental tracks in the album. I love ambient, folk, soft music, and rock, so the album blends a lot of genres. Lyrically and vocally, I think my style ties everything together.

Definitely – it feels very varied yet coherent. I’ve also sensed a tint of melancholy, even throughout more upbeat tracks.

For sure. I think it’s partly just the tone of my voice – it naturally has a sad quality. Lyrically, I lean into that too because that’s just how I write, whether it’s poetry, diary entries, or songs.

What are some of your inspirations outside of music?

For a while, I was obsessed with House of Psychotic Women, a book about women on the brink of insanity, often in psychological horror or thrillers. I studied similar themes at university, and my favourite film, Possession, had a huge impact on me. It’s become a bit overexposed online, but a few years ago, I was really obsessed with it. I even wanted to make a song that felt like that film. I know female rage has also become such a big thing on the internet now that it kind of doesn’t sound legitimate if I say that it’s my inspiration. But it’s something I genuinely connect with. And I think it’s still relevant, even if it has become diluted.

You were ahead of the trend!

Ha-ha, I definitely didn’t do it first. I know Ethel Cain had been doing this for a while. She has a song called House of Psychotic Women coming out on her next album. And I was like, “No way, she’s doing all the things I wanted to do.” But I guess I just tapped into the same thing.

I recently saw this Instagram reel talking about collective consciousness – the weird coincidences we see in how different artists come up with similar creative directions simultaneously. But the reel was flipping the negative associations of plagiarism into the fact that we simply tap into similar aesthetics and want to talk about similar things.

Yes! I saw it too. I was super obsessed with it. When I started putting my album out, some people would tell me things like, “You stole this idea from me” or “You use this same instrument as I do.” But honestly, I never consciously thought, “I’m going to take that.” Sometimes it was just that we wrote about a similar topic or happened to use the same word. I don’t believe in this idea of completely copying. Maybe it’s just because I just don’t do that. 

We consume so much media, and it will always influence us implicitly. Absolutely! Algorithms also amplify that feeling of “Wow, you’re doing that, and I’m doing that too.” But I actually think it’s really cool to see someone doing something similar to me, or if they have the same references, I love it. It makes me think, “How did you get there? How did I get there?”

Yeah, when it comes to female rage, for example, the fact that it is such a trend just signifies that women today feel a strong desire to express that. It’s something we all genuinely connect with, too. 

Exactly. 

Before getting into music, you were also doing filmmaking, right?

I was! At university, I tried so many different things – painting, makeup, theatre – and then I fell into filmmaking. I put out my own film after university, and that’s the one people know. But honestly, no one has really seen it because I never officially released it. It feels so old now, and I could’ve done it so much better now. 

Is it something that you want to go into more? 

Right now, I don’t see a storyline for a film the way I see one for a song. I can think of a million things to write songs about, but nothing for a film at the moment. It’s probably just a phase – I’ll likely return to it eventually. I still love directing, especially for my music videos.

I was about to say, your music videos are so incredibly striking every time.

Thank you! It’s been great to be able to direct my own videos, especially now with the internet requiring so much visual content. At least I enjoy doing it – otherwise, it would be even harder.

And how does it feel to be in front of the camera compared to only directing?

I love it. I’m kind of awkward and shy in person – not in a bad way, I don’t think – but as soon as the camera is on me, that all disappears. It depends on who’s filming, but I really love performing, especially when it’s my own work. I can just be as wild and feral as I want.

It feels like you let out those parts of womanhood that are often repressed in society, shedding expectations and identities projected on you from the outside. Within this, what does girlhood mean to you?

Before I started this project, my perspective was probably different. But I had a conversation with my good friend Oriana – she’s a very intuitive Cancer-Aquarius girl – who told me to read Women Who Run With the Wolves. I was telling her how I want to go away to a cabin and write and reconnect with nature because I just felt really unhappy and suffocated by the city. And she was like, “That’s because like the wolf in you wants to run and escape.” That’s probably why I’ve been so drawn to deranged and unhinged women already from university. I truly believe women are spiritually stronger and more intuitive – obviously with exceptions. Since I started embracing that, I’ve become so much more comfortable with myself. 

What are some ways that help you embrace that?

Nature, dancing a bit as well. I used to hate dancing because I was embarrassed, but now I’m like, fuck it. It’s really fun to do that in my videos as well. That’s when I feel like I can let loose the most. What else… water, fire, all these very natural elements. And singing! 

Love that! And for your music videos, do you choreograph yourself?

For most of them, yes. There was one where I worked with a professional choreographer because it was a two-person routine. I’d never danced with someone like that before – it involved me lifting her on my shoulder and dancing with an axe. It was kind of dangerous. I felt like Lady Gaga, ha-ha. For my other videos, I don’t plan it beforehand but just see how I feel in the moment.

I also imagine it makes it very special – it’s literally responding to the music and how it makes you feel in the moment. Broadly, how do you approach directing a music video? 

When I’m in the production stage of a song, I naturally start seeing visuals in my head. I take those little visuals and create a mood board. From there, I think about what kind of storyline could tie them together. It’s a very visual-first process – I think that’s like the art kid in me. 

Coming back to My Lust Is My Religion, what are some of the most sentimental moments associated with its creation and birth?
The release event was really special. Music (and life in general) feels so online now that hearing someone say they like your work in person hits differently. At the event, my friend brought me flowers, and we handed out temporary tattoos that said “My lust is my religion.” We accidentally printed them backward, which was a bit of an L, but people loved it anyway. They were flipping the photos after and putting the tattoos on like tramp stamps – it was amazing. I also loved doing the set design because it was in a studio space, not a gig venue. I had control and creativity over every corner. I’m also not really into the look of most gig venues. It’s just dark and there’s always something ugly.

So true. It’s beautiful that you were able to extend this world of the album into a wider physical space. With this chapter coming to a close, as you said, what are you up to now?

I’ve got a few songs I’m happy with, but I’m such a project-oriented person that I want everything to feel cohesive before putting it out. This time, my music feels more personal and emotional, and I’m excited to share that.

When do you think you’d be ready to put them out? 

For now, I’m taking a small break from sharing things while I create. I didn’t take a break for two years, and it felt messy, like I was rushing to put songs out one by one. I want to approach things differently now. And at the moment, I want to do more live shows outside of Florence Rose. I’m on the hunt for a folk band. I want to sing with like seven people, that would be really fun.

Time for a quick round! What is the most recent film that you watched that you were really impressed by?

The Substance.

Last note in your notes app?

Oh, it’s the set list for my event, which was In Your Room, I’m Your Daughter, Shiny New Girl, Once I Was (which isn’t my song, it’s a cover), and Isn’t Life Beautiful? 

Comfort food? 

Gyoza.