Album Review: Florence + The Machine – Everybody Scream
2 min read
Few artists turn chaos into beauty quite like Florence Welch. Across more than a decade of anthemic releases, she’s turned heartbreak, faith, and fury into a bohemian. Poetic, primal thing of beauty. Everybody Scream, released via Polydor Records, is Florence + The Machine’s sixth studio album, finding Welch confronting the noise of modern life with her trademark intensity. Written during a turbulent stretch of touring and solitude, she’s described it as “a joyful exorcism” – apt given its Halloween release date… let’s find out if it’s frighteningly good or hauntingly bad, shall we!!??
Kicking off with the title track, Everybody Scream which is a solid track – with a casual filthy metal riffing dropped in the middle of this largely soft rock/pop song. One of the Greats follows with a darker feel to it and heavier power chords and more storytelling-style lyrics, while Witch Dance feels like the lyrical composition of Kate Bush had been channelled, and Sympathy Magic beats through, with a powerful exploration of how much a person can endure for the sake of the freedom it awakens within them – possibly my favourite track on the album. Perfume and Milk follows with more artful lyrics, building through the track, while Buckle feels like it was composed with more than a minor amount of country influence.
Kraken kicks off the second half of the album with a rhythmic melody and cheeky lyrics that I think will transition well onto stage, followed by the dread, the march and the hope that The Old Religion brings in what is another strong contender for the best track. Drink Deep has a hint of ceremony to it, as the track gradually descends into something dark, twisted and beautiful, whereas Music by Men clearly lends it’s lyrics from a bad relationship, and its chord structure from Radiohead, and penultimate track You Can Have It All hits like a sledgehammer. We round off Everybody Scream with And Love – an emotional ending, a surrender to love.
Ok, so Everybody Scream is a good quality album, with a number of good tracks… but I didn’t think it was particularly ground-breaking. There are moments of real creativity and emotional depth, but they’re scattered between more predictable tracks, and whilst the production is clean, it never quite reaches the level of something truly memorable. There are some strong tracks, but nothing I’m going to be adding to my favourites. In the end, it’s a good listen—but (for me) not one that lingers for long.
