Image Credit: Josie Barry

From the girly, sugary spectrum of Sabrina, Chappell, Ariana, Olivia, Raye and Taylor through to the more ‘edgy’, Billie, Lola, CMAT and Charli, none can catch the wil ‘o wisp that is Florence. Her haunted, Lady of The Lake persona, has more authenticity than most of her peers. With – on the record – past struggles with drugs, alcohol, eating disorders and a dollop of the obligatory relationship woes, she crafts her pains into her songwriting.

My ‘go to’ Florence album was always her debut – Lungs from 2009. I wasn’t sure what I was listening to: surrealism… feminism… goth… rock anthems… but I knew I was hooked. I couldn’t seem to quieten, ‘Kiss with a Fist’ and ‘Girl with One Eye’, like a virus swirling around in my brain. 

Image Credit: Republic Records

The band’s sixth album Everybody Scream was released last year and in promotional interviews, Florence delighted in explaining its 31st October launch date as: Florence and The Machine releases Everybody Scream on Halloween. In an interview with Nick Grimshaw and Annie Mac, she explained that ‘the album is about life… death… definitely a darker album.’ She researched extensively for the album, delving into witchcraft, mysticism and magic. She was interested in early intersections between magic and religion as well as influences from Irish and English folk stories and mythology and swapping playlists with her mate Abigail Morris from The Last Dinner Party. Florence has also been touched by personal tragedy, such as her traumatic ectopic pregnancy in 2023 and with her continuing view of the misogynistic construct of the industry she has to work in, she has delivered a powerful punch of an album. 

Everybody Scream, includes belters worthy of one of the most impressive and unique female vocals of her generation. Working alongside Mark Bowen, her Daliesque lyrics are poems to be studied as though from a folklore Dark Fairy. She admits to not being very disciplined when writing, instead coming up with her ideas whilst staring out of the window. Florence and her music have always seemed beyond her years and now, approaching forty, she seems comfortable in her skin and says she has now ‘settled into herself.’

The title track ‘Everybody Scream’, does what it says on the tin, whilst conjuring the collective chants of an angst coven. 

The complexity of ‘One of The Greats’, meant that once the lyrics were down, it took 3 years to produce to ensure that it remained truthful to Florence’s initial intent. She unashamedly explains that one of the influences for this track was watching Buffy season 6, where Buffy, (spoiler alert) is reluctantly brought back from the dead and at a time when Florence won a Brit award but hid in a closet and cried and spent the next fifteen years proving she was worthy and wondering, does greatness feel more monstrous because she’s a woman? This track will also be attributed with one of the most quoted lyrics: ‘it must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can.’

While ‘Witch Dance’ draws you into a hypnotic trance through the woods as she begs, ‘show me the way…’ from the monstrosities of this world. 

‘Sympathy Magic’ exposes, like a raw nerve, the  visceral loss after her ectopic pregnancy. ‘So come on, come on, I can take it. Give me everything you got. What else, what else, what else…’

‘Perfume and Milk’ is a gentle ode to femininity and motherhood and the inevitability of the cycle of Mother Nature as, ‘the seasons change and the world turns,’ with hope that, ‘all will be well…’

‘Buckle’ has a toe tapping country vibe, bemoaning waiting around for him to call – very commercial.

‘Music by Men’ explores the compromise in long term relationships but has created its own buzz with the lyrics: ‘Breaking my bones. Getting four out of five. Listening to a song by the 1975. thought, Fuck it, I might as well give music by men a try.’ Referring to the fall she had on stage, bleeding with broken bones and she says that she only received a 4 out of 5 in a review. And on her nod to The 1975, she confessed that ‘the thing with songwriting, is it’s often because it rhymes.’

One of my favourites is ‘Kraken’, which delivers the same other-worldly lyricism that I loved in ‘Girl with One Eye’. The imagery it conjures, as Florence sings, will – ‘terrify…’

Florence is currently on tour with the album and I was fortunate enough to see her at the O2 in London. I never bother seeing artists who struggle to sing live, (aka Madonna, Kylie Minogue), even when they over compensate with visual spectaculars. No need to fret here. Don’t be fooled by Florence’s waif-like frame and sweet, softly-spoken interviews, the girl has a pair of lungs that could blow the roof off. 

Image Credit: Josie Barry

The stage was set for a spectacular opening with a house-size canvas, lit up with mystical and magical images before collapsing to reveal the diva herself. Her band, ‘The Machine,’ seemed happy to play in the shadows and the only nod to an added dimension was a coven of witch-like dancers, shadowing her through the more – well… witch-like themes. It wasn’t really needed, as Florence (with the help of a signature, slinky dress in blood red) commanded the stage. Watching her skip her way barefoot, up and down the length of the stage, for a two hour performance, was exhausting.

The playlist included some old favourites but disappointingly not all the tracks from Everybody Scream and I was so looking forward to hearing ‘Kraken’ sung live. Not one to indulge in too much chatter in between songs, (note to Adele) she did mention that she was a bit fearful on the stage where she broke bones and shed blood. She also gave a preamble before performing ‘Buckle’, admitting that she didn’t want to put it on the album as she was too old to still be complaining but everybody loved it (the crowd agreed) and now knew she’d be singing it for (bleep) ever.

Anthems such as ‘Howl’ and ‘Spectrum (Say My Name)’ were banging and the instructions she gave out for ‘Dog Days Are Over’ encore (put your phones away and live in the moment), had the whole arena following her pogo-bouncing lead. She ended on the last track of the album ‘And Love’ – a gentle reflection that she describes as ‘the end of the record after all the chasing and hunger…. At the end of it all there would be peace.’