Album cover for Florence and the Machine's "Everybody Scream."
On the day of tricks and treats, Florence and the Machine released their sixth studio album, “Everybody Scream,” under the Republic Records label. It’s been three years since their previous album “Dance Fever.”
According to Rolling Stone, during their “Dance Fever" tour, Florence Welch, lead singer and songwriter, experienced an ectopic pregnancy which required a life-threatening surgery. Despite this tragic event, Welch grew from this experience, saying “When you have to have emergency surgery, the lights are so bright; it’s so clinical. There was a sense afterwards that I needed to be near to the earth. I needed to be near natural things.” The “natural thing” Welch turned towards was magic.
“Everybody Scream” is heavily inspired by witchcraft and magical elements, with songs including “Witch Dance” and “Sympathy Magic.” In the same article, Welch described her journey with the art of magic and witchcraft, saying “Everywhere you look in terms of stories of birth and life and death, I found stories of witchcraft. You couldn’t look into anything about it and not find these folktales or find stories of witches or magic because it is so unknown.” The unknown gives you the freedom to create and explore how you want – something Welch develops throughout the album.
The whole album touches on the theme of freedom. In the first song, “Everybody Scream,” Welch sings, “Here I can take up the whole of the sky” and “Look at me burst through the ceiling.” Or, as heard on “Kraken,” she sings, “I grow many arms and legs, and then I start to sing.” These verses are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Welch diving into freedom with this album.
Welch persevered through one of the hardest times of a person’s life, yet came out stronger on the other side. Her story, and this album, demonstrate how struggles don't always hold us down, they give us the power to be stronger and to keep getting up.
"Everybody Scream" climbed to the top of the charts, sitting at number one for both Rock albums and Alternative albums. Through this album, Florence and The Machine created a beautifully intertwined story about hardship, doubts, freedom, and self-actualization. The album encapsulates the spooky nature of its Halloween release, but is still something that can be played year-round.
I highly recommend listening to “Everybody Scream,” even if you’re not an active listener of Florence and The Machine. It is a gateway to an artist who creates music that is not often seen in our current time.