Florence + The Machine released its sixth studio album “Everybody Scream” on Friday. This Halloween debut added another harmonious addition to the band’s discography. Lead singer and songwriter Florence Welch’s bewitching vocals and lyrics mixed with the band’s dramatic production created a haunting, yet riveting 12-track album.
“Everybody Scream” was written after Welch suffered a life-threatening ectopic pregnancy in 2023 while on tour for the group’s fifth album “Dance Fever.” She underwent emergency surgery and resumed performing only 10 days later.
The album is a transformation of Welch’s grief into a meditation on mortality, womanhood, performance and fame. Welch combines her trauma with spiritual folklore and mystical allusions with the backing of Idrîsî Ensemble, a medieval repertoire vocal group and the all-female vocal collective Deep Throat Choir throughout the album.
Aaron Dessner from The National, Mark Bowen from The Idles and Danny Harle helped produce the album. Musicians Dave Bayley from Glass Animals and Mitski also collaborated on songwriting.
The title track and lead single “Everybody Scream” opens the album out with intense and dramatic energy. The song begins with guttural, harmonic screams that descend into an exploration of the physical and emotional cost of performing with the chorus lyrics being, “But look at me run myself ragged / Blood on the stage / But how can I leave you when you’re screaming my name?”
The second track and second single “One of the Greats” continues the themes from the title track with Welch ruminating on her near-death experience in tandem with her immortalized career in the male dominated music industry. The third track “Witch’s Dance” furthers these themes by contemplating the coexistence of life and death. Welch took inspiration from the tradition of Irish keening, a vocal ritual to mourn the dead for the song.
The next two tracks “Sympathy Magic” and “Perfume and Milk” explore the aftermath of Welch’s ectopic pregnancy and life-saving surgery. Both songs end on a resilient note with hope of healing.
The sixth song, “Buckle,” is stripped down compared to the loud drums and energetic bass lines in the beginning of the album. The acoustic song returns to the theme of fame and details a failing relationship and feeling alone despite thousands of fans.
The toned down acoustics of “Buckle” transition to the passionate seventh track, “Kraken.” Imagery of the legendary sea monster is evoked as a metaphor for Welch’s experience of not being taken seriously in the beginning of her career.
“Old Religion” and “Drink Deep” extend the folklore metaphors from previous songs. “Old Religion” has a gothic romance energy with references to powerlessness and mortality. “Drink Deep” references the folklore tale of Rumpelstiltskin, who can spin straw into gold but charges the price of your first-born child, connecting to Welch’s lost pregnancy.
“Music by Men” calls back to the sixth track “Buckle” as a reflection on relationships. It describes the want and fear of real love, with the song ending as a manifestation for a peaceful life.
The final two tracks “You Can Have It All” and “And Love” wind down the album with final screams of anguish and displays of healing. “You Can Have It All” taunts the stereotypical notion of women “having it all” — a career, love and family — with Welch’s strong belts and Shakespearean references. The final song “And Love,” ends the album by switching the tone to a calm meditative manifestation of healing.
In true Welch fashion, “Everybody Scream” is a courageous artistic endeavor in which Welch sings and writes with purpose. Her exploration of the grief she suffered is heartwrenching and haunting. Welch does not shy away from the hypocrisy and pain that many women experience and turns it into a brave and beautiful work of musical art with her strong songwriting and singing.
