FLO have been hailed as "the future of UK R&B" as the group get set to launch their debut LP Access All Areas.
The Music Week cover stars will unleash the record via Island EMI on November 15, having made their presence felt in a huge way since bursting onto the scene in 2022 – claiming the BRITs Rising Star award in 2023 in addition to topping the BBC Sound Of... Poll that year.
Sam Adebayo, A&R at Island, lauds their impact on the genre so far.
“In the context of UK R&B, FLO bridge the gap between the polished, harmony-driven R&B sound, with the more grounded, gritty UK influences,” said Sam Adebayo. “UK R&B has always had an undercurrent of rawness, often blending in elements from other local genres, and FLO taps into that by keeping their lyrics and themes real and relatable. They are the future of UK R&B.”
FLO – Stella Quaresma, Jorja Douglas and Renée Downer – discuss the album, breaking America and taking control of their own destiny in the November issue's Music Week cover story.
We are young Black women, so it’s very important that our voices are heard
Renée Downer
“We’ve been together for over five years, and I remember at the beginning we wanted to release music a lot earlier than we had done,” said Downer. “We were like, ‘Why are things taking so long?’ But because we were quite young, we definitely needed that growing time.
“We are young Black women, so it’s very important that our voices are heard. Everywhere in the world, if you’re Black, if you’re a woman, the odds are stacked against you. FLO comes first and this is what we want to do. You can come on board and help us execute it, but that’s how we work.”
Success came right out of the gate with the band's debut single Cardboard Box, which has current sales of 205,705 according to the Official Charts Company.
“It gave us that push at the start and that sense of, ‘OK, something’s going right,'" reflected Quaresma. "We’ve made the right decisions, so it just egged us on, really. I don’t think it’s added a sense of pressure. We put pressure on ourselves, but it’s a healthy pressure.
“We’re excited for the album to come out. People are going to see where we’re headed and where we want to go.”
FLO, who have just under two million monthly listeners on Spotify and 16.8m likes on TikTok, went on to secure their first Top 40 hit last year with Fly Girl (114,773 sales, OCC), which featured Missy Elliott.
“We’ve learned to take matters into our own hands,” said Douglas. “It’s our career, we’re the ones in front of the camera, on the stage, behind the mic. So, really, we need to use our voices. If we’re not comfortable with something, it’s on us to let that be known. FLO is very much our vision, so it’s about being confident in that vision, knowing what we do and don’t want and just being confident in our dream.”
As a case in point, Access All Areas was originally slated to drop in 2023, but the trio pushed back the release after working Island’s US label partner Republic, which gave them access to new insights, allowing them to reimagine their creative scope.
“When we made a decision to broaden our team and start working with people in the USA, we really had a rude awakening with the level that we’re trying to reach,” explained Douglas. “I think being a UK girl group, the standard is low, to be honest with you, as far as labels’ perception of R&B [goes]. So upon working with people in the industry who are based in the USA, it was made clear to us that we’re on a level, so the music needs to match that level.
"We are capable of [making] our music a lot better. And [realising] that was really insightful and helpful, because looking back, what we had initially planned for the album was a little bit shit. Not just the quality of the music, but as far as an actual story goes and creating a concept for the album. So they really helped us achieve what we wanted.”
The new album means a lot to us. It’s literally our baby and we didn’t want to rush it
Renée Downer
Downer added: “The new album means a lot to us. It’s literally our baby and we didn’t want to rush it. We wanted her to be right and feel confident that every song is a 10 out of 10. In our opinion, the album is perfect. We hope that it just shows people what we’re capable of, shows people the future of R&B music, shows our worth and that we really study this. We care about all the little details.”
The US has already proved a fruitful territory for the group, with a recent Instagram video showing huge queues of fans (known as FLO Lifers) at a pop-up event in New York. And Douglas is confident the band can build on that momentum and become a rare British breakthrough on the other side of the pond.
“I think the reason why we’re [in America now] is because this is where we’re being appreciated,” she said. “Most of the time, people aren’t even aware that we’re British. We’ve never steered away from that, we embrace being British, you can hear it as soon as we open our mouths. But it’s just the music and the standard being the focus. We’re operating to a different standard over here, and that is what is creating this path for us.
“I think we can break America, 100%. They seem to want it. So bring it on, let’s go!”
Subscribers can read the full FLO cover story here.
