FLO have spoken to NME about the highly anticipated follow-up to ‘Access All Areas‘, which they promise will be “more intense in every way”.
The R&B trio caught up with us backstage at the 2026 Universal Pre-BRITs showcase, where they were celebrated as one of three UK artists who are on the brink of an exciting next chapter.
Held at the Aviva Studios in Manchester on Friday (February 27), they appeared alongside Simon Cowell’s new boyband project December 10 and acclaimed singer-songwriter Holly Humberstone, performing to a crowd of music executives and industry leaders. For FLO, the group broke out two currently unreleased tracks that will be released soon.
Backstage, the trio caught up with NME and shared what it was like to be there on the night, teasing the follow-up to their hit debut album.
“We’re very excited to perform, and it’s actually really different performing for people who aren’t just our fans. Strangely, it feels like a bit less pressure,” shared Stella Quaresma, before Jorja Douglas shared her excitement for the new material.
“We’ve already moved on from ‘Access All Areas’. We’re straight onto the next chapter and we’re mainly focused on how our next music needs to be even better,” she said, before Renée Downer added that they have to remind themselves of what it was like to see such widespread support for their 2024 debut.
“It has been really nice to see how many people that album really had an impact on,” she told us. “It’s easy to forget, until someone comes up to you like ‘I love this song, it meant this to me’. That’s when you remember that all of that was the point.”
Check out the rest of our interview with FLO below, where they also told us about their hopes to tour across Asia and South America, wanting to help inspire young musicians from underprivileged backgrounds, and how their new music is going to be more “intense” than ever.
NME: Hi FLO, welcome to the Universal Pre-BRITs Showcase. We hear you’re going to play some unreleased music tonight. Is this the beginning of a new chapter?
Renée Downer: “100 per cent. It’s definitely an elevation to what we’ve done before. We have really grown, and it’s showing in the music.”
Stella Quaresma: “We never set out to be like, ‘This is what we’re going to make this time’, but we have seen that the music just naturally progresses. We are still sticking with the nostalgic vibe though, but it’s a lot more fun.”
Jorja Douglas: “You can expect it to be a bit more intense, in every way.”
Since releasing ‘Access All Areas’, you have also shared the single ‘Recently Deleted’ – where does that fit into things? Was that something that didn’t make the cut on the debut album?
Downer: “It’s closer to our new music. It wasn’t really written for ‘Access All Areas’, but also we didn’t feel like it was necessarily related to the vibe of the new music we’re going with, so it felt like an in-between transition.”
Douglas: “Think of it like a bridge to introduce people to our new music. It had been a while since we put out new music, so we just wanted to be like, ‘Here’s a little Christmas present’ to fans. We do that kind of often. It was fun to do it before the new stuff comes out.”
You spent most of 2025 on the road. You must have learned a lot since then, especially after playing big venues in the US…
Douglas: “We grew from doing that in so many ways. The music definitely shows that growth, because it feels like we’ve matured a lot since ‘Access All Areas’. That was giving pre-adult FLO then, but now, we have truly arrived.”
Downer: “The 2025 US tour was great. It’s impossible to pick a highlight because every state was beautiful, we met so many amazing people, and every crowd was different. We love to be on the road because there we can really connect with fans.”
Douglas: “And now we need to go to South America and Asia. We need to say what’s up to the FLO-lifers over there!”
You’ve got an upcoming headline slot at Limitless Live, which works to inspire young people from underprivileged backgrounds. Why was it important for you to put your name to that?
Quaresma: “We’ve been very fortunate to have amazing opportunities growing up in music. We all went to music-related colleges, and it always felt like something that was accessible to us. Having that belief has definitely been instrumental in getting us to where we are now.”
Douglas: “So if we can be a part of that forum for the new generation, we will. There could be the next big name in that room. There could be the next Justin Bieber out there in the crowd at Limitless Live… and we’re going to help find him.”
When we last spoke at the 2025 BRITs, you said that there weren’t many girl groups out there and you were after a bit of competition. Has anyone caught your eye yet?
Quaresma: “The girl groups are definitely brewing, for sure. I’ve noticed a bit more movement since we last spoke, but in terms of artists in our R&B lane, I still don’t think there’s anyone making music like FLO. A lot of them will still be finding their feet, which is what we were doing for the first two years.
“Keep in mind, we’ve been together for almost seven years now. So we definitely take that into consideration when we’re looking at new artists coming up. Time will tell and we will see in a couple of years. Definitely watch this space.”
While you are helping bring back a ’90s feel, FLO definitely has a very modern element there too. How do you find the balance between nostalgia and keeping it fresh?
Douglas: “There have definitely been times where we were like, ‘No, that’s a bit too nostalgic’ when writing. For us it’s all about blending together everything that we’re loving at the moment. Not only will it be what we love from the past, but it’ll also be about the people that we work with too. That is so integral because some producers get it, but some producers don’t. Some writers get it, some writers don’t. So when we find someone that is really helping us word things the way we want to word them, it just clicks.”
Quaresma: “Obviously we have our early influences, but we are in touch with the current culture too. Sometimes we’ll hear a lyric that someone will suggest and we will have to be like ‘Alright, grandad…” It’s something we’ve got to be conscious about.”
Douglas: “Yeah we don’t want to go too old-school. Now though, we’re moving on from the ‘90s and looking towards the 2010s! We’re going into things like ‘OK, what was happening in 2012?’”
Downer: “Everything is still rooted in our true inspirations, but I guess now it’s about having a more mature approach and it’s about saying things in a different way.”
Do you mostly agree on what the vision for FLO is, or do you have to find a way to compromise and balance your individual tastes?
Quaresma: “In the recent process, we’ve been writing separately as well as together. So while we might all love the same thing, we come at ideas from different angles. We’ve seen that both in the writing and in the production. That’s what’s so great about there being three of us. It’s not too many, so it’s easy for it to come together really nicely.”
What more can you tell us about new music?
Downer: “Things are coming very soon. We’re singing two new songs today here at the Universal showcase, so it’s safe to say we’ve got the music figured out! We’ve got our next steps all planned out.”
Quaresma: “Yes, we’re entering our consistent era!”
It’s going to be a full album, right? You’re not just focusing on dropping singles…
Douglas: “Oh yeah. When we do things, we do it big. It’ll be complete, wrapped in a bow, and a story will be told. There definitely will be singles first, though.”
FLO are set to announce details of their new album later this year, and with their next single will be arriving this month. They perform at Limitless Live at London’s Roundhouse on Sunday May 3. Visit here for tickets and more information.
