4/5
All Born Screaming
Scream if you want to go faster, machine heads. Florence Welch and one of the best British bands now (like The Last Dinner Party), and for all-time (akin to Fleetwood Mac), are back with their sixth studio album on Polydor. And their first since the contagious 'Dance Fever' of 2022. 'Everybody Scream', from the 'Lungs' of a 'Ceremonial' band as 'High As Hope', might just be the best Florence + The Machine album since 'How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful'. As the inspired and influential indie outfit gives us the titular single, plus 'One Of The Greats' and 'Sympathy Magic' that speaks, no screams, to the times that we are living in that are a-changin' now. Welch even channels Cate Blanchett playing Dylan ('I'm Not There'), smoking and smouldering behind shades in the back seat of a classic car, singing, "And with each bedraggled breath, I knew I came back from the dead/To show you how it's done, to show you what it takes/To conquer and to crucify, to become one of the greats/One of the greats." Proving that she really is that.
Spellbinding in its creative building, like the deluxe "chamber versions" of four formidable tracks, this LP comes after tragedy and life-altering surgery for Florence. During the 'Dance Fever' tour, Welch suffered a miscarriage. Now three-years later, she is back for everybody with messages amongst her trademark gothic and mystic folk. All for an album inspired by witchcraft and magic, just in time for Halloween with its last day of October release. And this is the Autumn album for your fall, packed with powerhouse records like 'Witch Dance', 'Sympathy Magic' and 'Perfume and Milk'. From a teasing carousel of Instagram images back in mid-summer, to the eight wonders of fisheye-lens amazing album artwork that comes now for a group as classic as these photographs tones. "You can have it all", Welch wrote. Along with "clarity = power' and "swans vs. Adele" for the biggest battle of the calendar. With testaments like 'The Old Religion' and 'Drink Deep', even the amazing 'I Drink Wine' singer wouldn't stand a chance, rolling in the deep, if swans and signets sang these songs.
Digging a hole in the ground and screaming in it for the perfect emotional release, this epic album, and it's lead single's video of the same name, walk proud with everybody behind it. The physical copy buckling down with one of the best breakup records as 'Buckle' tells us, "Oh, baby, I just buckle my resolution in tatters/'Cause I know it won't work, but make it ache, make it hurt/I'm not better than this, show me what I'm worth/Keep me a secret, choose someone else/I'll still be here hanging off, I'm hanging off/The buckle on your belt." It's deep and pulls you in, like the tentacles of the same 'Kraken' Johnny Depp once faced off, like the drink of the same name, in the 'Dead Man's Chest' of 'Pirates of the Caribbean' ("hello, Beastie!"). This is not 'Music By Men', or Florence's "second favourite frontman", as Welch takes it to an ignorant industry like Haim's 'Man From The Magazine', c###s! "Breaking my bones, getting four out of five (sorry)/Listening to a song by The 1975/I thought, 'F### it, I might as well give music by men a try'", for her Murakami ballpark moment. 'You Can Have It All', the penultimate track tells us, and she does. But 'And Love' is the perfect closer looking for more to come. "And love was not what I thought it was", she sings, as she breathes out in a meditative release. All before telling us "peace is coming." One and all. This is for everybody. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'One Of The Greats', 'Buckle', 'And Love'.
Spin This: Florence + The Machine - Dance Fever.
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