Flora Cash is a Swedish-American indie pop duo consisting of Shpresa Lleshaj and Cole Randall.
History
Lleshaj, an Albanian originally from Kosovo and whose family had fled to Sweden while she was a child to escape war and conflict in the region, was living in Stockholm when she met Randall, from Minneapolis, on SoundCloud in 2012. Lleshaj began commenting on the tracks Randall had posted and the two discovered they appreciated each other's music. After meeting in person in Minneapolis, they began working together in Sweden as Flora Cash. The duo has said that they've never revealed the origin or meaning of their band name to anyone. They released their debut EP, Mighty Fine, on 12 December 2012. Their second EP, Made It For You, came out on 13 June 2013. That year Lleshaj and Randall also married. They released a third EP, I Will Be There, on 20 September 2014. A few singles followed. Then, after signing with Swedish label Icons Creating Evil Art in 2015, they released, Can Summer Love Last Forever?, in March 2016. The seven-song mini-LP earned them nominations for two GAFFA awards, as Swedish Artist of the Year and Swedish Newcomer of the Year. They released their debut full-length albumNothing Lasts Forever in April 2017. Earmilk gave the album 9 out of 10 stars and called it, "as delicate and fragile as the core values the two write for, truth, beauty and living for the moment in a modern world where everything is taken for granted." Flora Cash broke into the mainstream with their song "You're Somebody Else"; a track from their debut full-length album that achieved its initial success after being used in a viralMovistar commercial in Mexico promoting safety for young people meeting each other online. After debuting on Pandora Radio's Predictions chart in August 2018 and retaining the No. 4 spot into September, "You're Somebody Else", reached the Top 10 on both Billboard's Alternative Songs and Adult Alternative Songs airplay charts that November. The song reached number one, on both the Mediabase Adult Alternative and Alternative radio formats. To date, the track has garnered over 86 million streams on Spotify, with the lyric video having been viewed over 73 million times on YouTube. In July 2018, Flora Cash signed to Sony Music's RCA Records. On 9 August 2018, they made their American television debut, performing "You're Somebody Else" on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The next day they launched a North American tour where they shared the stage with Amen Dunes, Aquilo, SYML, and Superorganism. On 6 November 2018, the music video for "You're Somebody Else" came out on YouTube. It was directed by Mark Pellington and depicted individuals talking about anxiety and other struggles. The artists were also in the music video. Flora Cash joined lovelytheband on tour from April to June 2019. In the autumn of 2019 the band joined Judah & the Lion and AJR on tour. The band announced their first U.S. headline tour in late 2019 for early 2020 called the 'Baby, It's Okay' tour. The tour was subsequently postponed due to the outbreak of Covid-19.
Television
On 9 August 2018, Flora Cash performed "You're Somebody Else" on The Late Late Show with James Corden, marking their television debut. On 28 February 2019, Flora Cash performed "You're Somebody Else" on Live with Kelly and Ryan, marking their first live television performance. Their composition "Save Me" was also featured as the closing track on the final episode of series 3 of the Australian Screen NSW drama Janet King. Season 3, episode 2 of the series The Good Doctor features "You're Somebody Else" at the end of the episode montage sequence. Hulu's miniseries adaptation of "Four Weddings and a Funeral", Season 1 Episode 6 "Lights, Cameras, Wedding", features "And Ever" from the album "Can Summer Love Last Forever?" as Maya takes the elevator to Madison rooftop restaurant, for Zara and Craig's surprise engagement party. On 5 January 2020, the duo performed and was interviewed live on Sweden's most popular morning TV program, Nyhetsmorgon which airs on TV4_. They performed "You're Somebody Else" and "You Love Me." The German teen drama web series Druck features "You're Somebody Else" in the final scene of season 3, episode 7. The scene depicts the reunion of Matteo Florenzi, played by Michelangelo Fortuzzi, and David Schreibner, played by Lukas Alexander von Horbatschewsky. They embrace in comfortable silence, while Flora Cash plays in the background. Season 1, episode 7 of the series Locke & Key features "You're Somebody Else" at the end of the episode montage sequence.
