TWENTY-ONE-year-old Florence Sommerville, who thrives on modern country music, is set to release Out Where The Love Grows, an emotive self-penned song about living and growing up in the small rural village of Orsett.
This latest single, from her forthcoming ENDLESS HORIZON, debut album set for release on July18, is timely, as there are currently plans for a new Housing Development for 150 houses to be built on the beautiful, unspoilt grazing land at the bottom of her garden, Baker Street, Orsett.
The Development by Barratt David Wilson Homes, the UK’s largest house builder, is currently going through the Public Consultation and Planning Stages, with construction due to begin summer of next year if the Application proves successful.
Florence actually wrote the song before she knew about the proposed development as she explains – “Out Where The Love Grows I wrote in summer 2024. One of the things I’ve always loved about country music is the fact that singers always have songs about their hometowns. Either about how much they love them, or the way they miss them when they’re not there etc., and I really wanted one of my own. I live and grew up in a tiny little village in Essex named Orsett, the same place that my mum grew up—my grandparents still live in the same house she grew up in.”
“It’s full of beautiful countryside, fields full of horses, donkeys, sheep, goats, bunnies; there is actually a beautiful field with all of these at the bottom of my garden. We’re very lucky, I know how lucky we are, so I wrote this song as an ode to how much I love it. Then, in May 2025 we received a letter saying that a private company is applying for planning permission to take away that beautiful field, and build 150 houses there instead. We were all devastated by this news, and the whole community came together to try to fight it, which we are continuing to do now. As of July 2025, it has gone through to the next stage, but the area has finally officially been labeled as greenbelt land, meaning that there is more protection on the land than before. Now every time I play this song live, it has a slightly bittersweet meaning, but it feels even more important to play now. So if you live in a small village or town, or even if you just love the countryside—this song is especially for you.”
Florence, who has been playing and writing music since she was 13, has performed to packed audiences at iconic venues in Nashville, including the iconic Bluebird Café, Commodore Grille, Maxwell House, Love & Exile, Cambria Hotel and was chosen by No Depression magazine as one of the top performers at the 2024 AMA Festival. In the UK she’s played the Maverick Festival, Latitude and Moseley Folk & Arts Festival, the Green Note, Libra Camden, and the Fiddler’s Elbow in London and supported such diverse acts as Diana Jones, Tom Robinson, Annie Keating, Track Dogs, Hannah Aldridge, the Hanging Stars, Dan Owen and many more.
