Florence + The Machine shares her story with new album ‘Everybody Scream’
Photo by Autumn De Wilde
Florence Welch has returned with her newest album Everybody Scream, a chilling twelve song record that discusses the difficult relationship she’s found herself in with fame and music. The 39-year-old English singer has had a terrifying last few years following a horrific medical emergency that occurred during her 2023 tour. After multiple surgeries and issues, Welch has channeled all the emotional turmoil that comes with those experiences into a truly beautiful piece of art. Starting with the opening track “Everybody Scream”, Welch repeatedly sings about a woman that gives her everything and is a constant for her, allowing her to fully be herself in a way she usually cannot. This woman is inferred to be the stage, a small glimpse into the relationship Welch holds with performing and the importance it has to her. The song is filled with a chorus repeating phrases such as “dance”, “sing”, and “move”, backed by a chilling organ and loud drums filling your chest in that familiar Florence + The Machine fashion.
“One of the Greats” feels like a page ripped out of Welch’s diary, filled with references to her near-death experiences in 2023. She writes about how she felt she has crawled up from under the earth, coming back from the dead. She mocks the term “one of the greats” and talks about how she worked so hard to obtain this dream career, and now she wonders if she got it right, if this is what she even wants. It is a beautiful song discussing what being a woman feels like in a male dominated industry, even saying “I’ll be up there with the men and the ten other women / In the hundred greatest records of all time / It must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can”.
The whole album is filled with heavy drums and a wonderful mix of acoustic and electric instruments, which is what makes “Music by Men” stand out so distinctly. The song is four minutes and thirty-one seconds of just Welch’s haunting voice, an acoustic guitar, and a keyboard, Aaron Dessner’s classic signature. Welch sings about a relationship, her ability to fall in love easily and quickly, and the difficulties of being in a relationship. Welch sings about how desperate she is to make this work, making herself smaller and trying to compromise to keep everything going.
Everybody Screams is a beautiful masterpiece, highlighting multiple difficult topics that Welch has faced and continues to process throughout her life. From losing a pregnancy, to almost losing her life, Welch has continued to talk about her journey and how it influenced her writing in this new album. Her anguish and heavy felt emotions seem to radiate off of each track, filling my chest and inducing those same emotions within me. This album is an exceptional reminder of her status and importance in the British indie rock scene, contrary to her beliefs, I do think she is one of the greats. Her influence and impression on the genre are impossible to ignore. Be sure to listen to Everybody Screams and all of Florence + The Machine’s hits wherever you stream you r music. You can also see Florence + The Machine on their upcoming tour next year in a city near you.
