Florence K’s playlist

Montreal’s celebrated songstress, Florence K, is running for office.

“Vote K!” she laughs.

If only Florence was serious. Topics like language and culture wouldn’t be such a heated, overblown debate.

“I wish politicians would stop seeing language as a problem,” Florence says.

“It shouldn’t be about one or the other. There’s a richness and a beauty in having more than one language and culture in the same place.”

The Quebecoise-Lebanese belle campaigns the same message through her new album, “I’m Leaving You.”

Florence stirs genres like pop, latin and jazz in a melting pot, and even though the majority of tracks are recorded in English, she says this album is for everyone, everywhere.

“Music is an international language. It’s like a smile, no matter what language you speak, you get the meaning. Music speaks straight to your heart. That’s why it’s sacred and so, so powerful.”

A nod to diversity, Florence has made a playlist of tunes from across the map.

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Dear Prudence – The Beatles

“When I was a kid my father would sing it to me saying, ‘Dear Florence,’ so I thought McCartney and Lennon wrote it for me. When I realized it was Prudence, Mia Farrow’s sister, I was disappointed. But I still love the song. It’s awesome.”

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Lagrimas Negras – Cesaria Evora & Compay Segundo

“Lagrimas Negras is a classic Cuban bolero. This is a beautiful version. It sounds amazing. Compay is so unbelievably laid back with his vocals. He was like 90 years old when he recorded this track. So good.”

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Only Girl (in the World) – Rihanna

“I sing this song loud in my car when it plays on the radio. I think Rihanna helped put dance music back on the map with this one. The chord progression is actually brilliant. My bass player and I tried to make a bossa nova version of it for fun and we couldn’t even pick up the chords from the chorus because it’s super weird and well written.”

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Slow Dancing in a Burning Room – John Mayer

“This is my favorite Mayer song. It’s a break up song, but when I hear it I feel like telling my boyfriend how much I love him. The music makes me feel something completely different than what the lyrics mean. That’s what I love about music, the contrast between the lyrics, the meaning and the music itself.

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Paranoid Android – Radiohead

“I love Radiohead. OK Computer is one of my favorite albums of all time. What a genius record. I was 14 years old when it came out and I went to see them at the Bell Centre. Amazing. This song is like a rhapsody. Brilliant.”

I’m Leaving You is available on iTunes now. Florence’s album release event is at Montreal’s Club Soda on Thursday, October 10 (5 p.m.). More info and tour dates here.

Follow Florence on twitter and facebook.

Posted by Marc Andrew on Oct 9 2013. Filed under Celebrity Playlist. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.