Florence Welch is taking a break from touring to focus on her mental health.
The Florence + the Machine vocalist has been on the road for more than a year, but has no new dates booked after a gig in Edinburgh, Scotland on 8 August.
And the 32-year-old believes the time is right to take an extended long break, as she wants to experience a normal life, without the pressures of performing.
“I’ve been doing it for 10 years, and I’d quite like to experience a different way of life,” she told Britain’s Q magazine. “My whole adult life has been making an album, then going on a tour, in a cycle, and it’s been very punishing for me, mentally and physically. It’s draining. I’m drained.”
Florence has spoken about her mental health struggles in the past, but confessed touring has made them worse.
“Even in the midst of a full-blown anxiety attack, I can do the show,” she explained. “But my mental health has taken a battering. It used to be that that was a price I was willing to pay. I don’t think I am now. I have to really unravel the anxiety. I can’t stop crying. I can’t dress. I get cyclical negative thinking that gets really dark that says I shouldn’t exist. I go down a hole quite fast.”
However, Welch insisted she’s not giving up touring altogether, adding: “I’m not retiring. I just need to not tour for a good bit. I’ll be back.”
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