Florence Welch Plays Battered Woman in Calvin Harris’ ‘Sweet Nothing’ Video

Florence Welch reveals a few sides of her personality we haven't seen before in the video for her collaboration with EDM star Calvin Harris, 'Sweet Nothing.' Playing the role of an abused woman, Florence opens the video with an androgynous look and ends it writhing around in only a bra as she tries to deal with her pain.

The clip opens with shots of a lonely working-class guy in a diner, which are interspersed with close-up shots of a well-dressed man's torso as he walks down a hall. When the second man grabs a microphone and we see gold nail polish on his fingers, we begin to realize something's up.

The camera pulls back to reveal that the man isn't a man at all — it's Florence. Far from the glamorous  appearance for which she's normally known, Florence has pulled back her hair and rocks a men's suit in the tradition of Annie Lennox. She begins singing 'Sweet Nothing' on stage in what appears to be a depressing gentleman's club.

While Welch sings, "I’m tired of hope, with nothing to hold / I’m living on such sweet nothing / And it’s hard to learn and it’s hard to love / When you’re giving me such sweet nothing," viewers are introduced to a back story that explains the sad lyrics. The guy from the diner is Florence's partner, and he physically and verbally assaults her.

In between scenes of the couple fighting, Florence starts to break down on stage. She takes off her tie and jacket, lets her hair down, and even rips off the button-down shirt as the emotion overwhelms her. As Florence sings, "It's not enough to tell me that you care / When we both know words are empty air," her abusive mate is beaten up by unknown men in a dark alley. The dollars falling out of the attackers' pockets hint that this attack was orchestrated by the tormented singer herself in a case of vigilante justice.

Harris' new album '18 Months,' which features 'Sweet Nothing,' drops in the U.K. on Oct. 29 and presumably will see a U.S. release the same week.