‘Everybody Scream by Florence and the Machine, out on Halloween’ — an unnassuming promotional tag line from singer Florence Welch.
However, the album that lies beneath is far more raw and personal than her playful rhyme would suggest.
Florence’s always immaculate vocals rip open painful topics such as near-death experience, ectopic pregnancy, and the overriding failures of the patriarchy.
The well-received singles Everybody Scream and One of the Greats really set the tone for what Florence was getting ready to unleash.
It’s gothic and primal and everything you could want from this iconic vocalist, but taps into a trend we have seen everywhere in women’s music this year.
Women are screaming back at the patriarchy with nothing left to lose.
Florence follows the likes of Lily Allen, Sabrina Carpenter, and Hayley Williams, who have released music this year, voicing frustrations with the world.
While their sounds may be incredibly different, the message is the same: things need to change. Society needs to change.
Even loved-up Taylor Swift, between her Travis Kelce tracks, found time to criticise the level of scrutiny that she and her female friends are held to.
One lyric on Florence’s single One of the Greats caused quite a stir last month, as she sang: ‘I’ll be up there with the men and the 10 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.’
She’s calling out the indie guitar man genre specifically, but also the ease with which men are dubbed ‘geniuses’ while female artists must be all singing, all dancing, and prove lyrical worth.
It’s not a dig at the men, it’s frustration at the way women must constantly reinvent themselves to be ‘one of the greats’ and are still overlooked — Florence is ‘breaking [her] bones’.
On Rolling Stone’s 2023 list of 200 Greatest Singers of All Time, only 33 women were included, with Florence at 128. Aretha Franklin topped the list.
Continuing this theme with Music by Men, Florence dissects her relationship with a man who she is trying not to ‘threaten’.
She sings: ‘You have a bigger ego than you think you do/Slide down in my seat so as not to threaten you.’
Florence physically shrinks before blaming herself for this man’s disinterest in their relationship, as they travel to couples therapy.
This is more than frustration at the apathy of one man, she throws some shade at ultimate indie guitar man band, The 1975, who recently headlined Glastonbury.
There is something that feels primal about this album; it’s an ancient rage that has been long buried, re-emerging with a chorus of female voices.
It’s no surprise she’s chosen Paris Paloma to support her on tour. That choral chanting in Labour and Good Boy is present in Everybody Scream, making you want to summon spirits around a fire in the woods on a full moon.
Feminine rage has long been a theme of Florence’s work, just look at first single Kiss With a Fist, but here she kicks it into overdrive, leaning into the horror.
Witch Dance brings a rock edge to the experience of losing your childhood innocence and being left in a world with women who have resigned to the ‘tears’.
Her ‘bloodied feet’ keep moving, keep pushing, until she throws herself to the ground – ‘there’s nobody more monstrous than me’.
The album weaves self-hatred with pain and suffering at the hands of people (men) she cannot control.
It’s almost a perfect skip-free album, only Drink Deep misses the mark for me as the guttural vocals get a little repetitive throughout the almost four-minute track.
That being said, songs like Sympathy Magic, The Old Religion, and Kraken stand out as ones that will undoubtedly be on repeat for many fans.
Buckle is uniquely devastating, listening to a woman who has sung about reclaiming her power, lamenting she is ‘stupid’ and ‘damaged’ in the presence of this man.
He holds the ultimate sway over her, with the chorus revealing: ‘Oh, baby, I just buckle my resolution in tatters/’Cause I know it won’t work, but make it ache, make it hurt’.
Steadily, she rebuilds, promising You Can Have It All on the triumphant penultimate track. And then we land, surprisingly softly, at closing track And Love.
It’s dreamy, calm, and deeply moving. An ocean of solace found after weathering the storm.
Verdict:
Brutal, unrelenting, and honest. Florence and the Machine deliver haunting vocals and an unleashing of feminine rage that proves she is truly one of the greats.
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