By Annabel Hall
With a very fitting Halloween release, Florence + The Machine has once again captured the hearts of their captivated listeners with their sixth studio album.
With haunting choruses and ethereal melodies, Florence Welch once again tackles difficult experiences and turns them into beautiful ballads. This most recent album in particular deals with Welch’s miscarriage of an ectopic pregnancy whilst on her “Dance Fever” tour back in 2023, which resulted in her needing lifesaving surgery, as well as the relationship issues she struggled with as a result.
Welch’s strife over the last few years is woven throughout the album with hard hitting lyrics such as “Cause I’m stupid and I’m damaged, and you’re a disaster” in the song ‘Buckle’ and in the song ‘Music of Men’, in which Welch depicts a struggling relationship in the line: “It’s not like what I’ve seen in TV shows, It’s not like what I’ve read in book / It’s so much harder than it looks”. Later, the song appears to find a way to make it through its issues, just as Welch and her partner have done.
However, Welch deals with more than just her own recent trials in her lyrics. As with her other albums, there is one recurring theme which cannot be ignored. Feminism. One lyric that stands out to me more than any other is: “Too feminine to function”. This simple and solitary line perfectly captures the struggles of being a women, harking back to Welch’s struggles with her mental health, eating disorders, her recent health issues and also sexism in the music industry: “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”.
Everybody Scream is a perfect mix of hauntingly gothic ballads, upbeat choruses and intense, primal chants, filled with feminine rage and the trials and triumphs of Florence Welch.
This new album is everything you would expect from Florence + The Machine… and so much more.
