Florrie – “Spreadsheets”

I've spent an unreasonable portion of my adult life staring at spreadsheets, and I can confirm they've never once made me feel more alive. Organized? Occasionally. Accomplished? Debatable. So when Florrie announces that she has no interest in running her own company, hustling herself into an early grave, or drafting a 20-year plan, I'm listening. And when she admits that spreadsheets send her crazy, I'm prepared to provide a character reference. I've seen what happens when someone accidentally deletes a formula. Nobody deserves to live like this.

“Spreadsheets,” from her newly released album Magic For A While, takes aim at the peculiar expectation that every ambition should eventually become a business model. Florrie has spent years making music as a drummer, songwriter, producer, and artist, with a résumé that includes Girls Aloud, Kylie Minogue, and an impressive collection of pop credits. She knows what hard work looks like. Which makes her apparent refusal to spend the rest of her life optimizing it particularly satisfying. She's after a different kind of spotlight, and she's perfectly comfortable leaving the conventional instructions unread.

The music has all the forward momentum you'd expect from someone who has spent so much time behind a drum kit. Florrie and Brian Higgins have built a pop record that practically runs down the corridor, throws open the office doors, and announces that everyone can go home early. The chorus is gloriously immediate, the rhythm practically demands a little workplace insubordination, and the whole thing sounds far too pleased with itself to entertain another quarterly performance review. I suspect Human Resources will be hearing about this.

We recently wrote about “Malibu (Falling Over The Edge),” where Florrie explored the memories and relationships that give places their meaning. “Spreadsheets” brings a different kind of freedom into focus: the permission to pursue a life that makes sense to you, even when it looks completely impractical on paper. Magic For A While has plenty of both, and I'm enjoying discovering how these songs speak to different corners of the same life.

Anyway, I should probably get back to work. Apparently someone has scheduled a meeting to discuss why nobody is meeting their productivity targets. I've declined the invitation and turned the music up instead.