Florence Welch displayed her Lungs on the Florence and the Machine album of the same name, which hit stores back in 2008. She found mainstream success in 2010 thanks to the track "Dog Days Are Over." Now a household name and a fashion icon, Welch is opening up about the band's follow-up album in Nylon magazine.

"A lot of the songs on the new album are about imaginary things, things that you can't touch -- ghosts and rumors, my dead grandmother, things visiting you in a dream," Welch says in the magazine, hitting newsstands on May 31. "It's almost like I am taking the Oscars and all those amazing events and turning them into something that brings you back to your reality. I was dressing up to go on stage from the beginning, but instead of a designer outfit, it would be a £2 cape from Oxfam or a lime green catsuit I borrowed off Andrew [VanWyngarden] from MGMT."

(Check out exclusive photos of Florence Welch getting her fashion on in Nylon.)

Her producer Paul Epworth revealed that if Machineheads loved Lungs, they are in for a treat with this next album. "I think the last four tracks we did for the next album is some of my best work ever," he said. "The new record is much more coherent. It's more bombastic, kind of an Animal Collective, Kate Bush, super-heavy rock kind of thing. It could only be Florence. She's found a new backdrop against which to set her tales of unrequited love and devils and Tim Burton-esque romantic stories. She's more relaxed, more level. This time, it's more about the battle between her head and her heart and that transition everyone goes through in their midtwenties, where you let go of the chaos of your youth. I think she's ready to take on the world with this record."

So, what is inspiring the flame-haired singer these days? "It still feels like I'm very much drawn to dark metaphors in the new songs," Welch explained. "It always feels like as if with each song you write, you're trying to understand something about yourself: Why am I this way? What's wrong with me? It feels as if there's still a lot of questioning left to do. Just because I'm happy in my relationship, I've still got issues to deal with. I'm going to be 25 and I feel like, well, I've got to be a grown-up now. I feel like your life is sort of always a battle between safety and freedom. You know: Do you want to throw yourself into something head first, or do you want to be cautious?"

Are you looking forward to the next Florence album? What do you think it will sound like?