Hi, everyone. Downthany Towntano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of the new Florence + The Machine album, Everybody Scream.

Powerhouse singer-songwriter Florence Welch, this is her sixth album with The Machine. Together, they make one of the biggest and most consistent art pop and indie rock acts out there. They have been around for almost 20 years at this, in fact. And this record here follows 2022's Dance Fever, personally one of my favorites in the Florence + The Machine catalog so far mostly due to its groovy and lush instrumentation, hookier songwriting. In a lot of ways, this record really tried to embody its title. Still, I did find some elements of this LP to be a little one-dimensional though, as Florence does tend to sing in this very theatrical and pronounced way, no matter the track.

So while there is a predictability factor there, I did go in into this new album excited to hear what Florence would do next. Because some of the singles were quite dynamic and loose, and it really felt like she was letting go cathartically with the band on these performances. But going deeper into the album, it would seem that she's not just doing that on this record musically but lyrically, too.

In some ways, I would call this record Florence + The Machine's very own The Life of a Showgirl, as many of the songs in this tracklist come across like meditations on her artistry and the music industry, which I think at this point there is certain cause for when you look at the amount of mainstream appeal and influence that Florence has maintained for over a decade now, with her work now being something I hear echoed in younger, cutting-edge bands like The Last Dinner Party, for example.

So yeah, in a way, why not a victory lap? Why not some self analysis? And I do think we get that to an extent on the album's massive opening title track, which has these ghoulish, witchy background vocals. And then you have Florence vocally sounding as powerful as ever, as she essentially describes what she becomes or embodies when she's performing.

But following this, we quickly go from celebration to diatribe on "One of the Greats", where you get these slow, driving guitars and drums, which I'm not surprised to hear that Mark Bowen of IDLES fame is in the mix on this track. This is like a scuzzy, slow, sad rock vibe that IDLES has been known for lately. It fits very well with Florence's vocals as she describes the difficult and often unreasonable balancing act that artists are expected to pull off in order to succeed in the industry and maybe get the accolades they feel they deserve.

A good part of this feels in relation to a recent near-death experience she's spoken about publicly with an ectopic pregnancy, something Florence sees herself having fought through in order to get back to performing and creating. A powerful sentiment and undoubtedly something that has caused her to feel some type away about not getting the kinds of greatest all-time accolades that she feels she may have been owed in her lifetime.

However, it feels pretty weird that her bitterness around this issue is aimed less at close-minded audiences. She instead levels words like, "Must be nice to be a man and make boring music just because you can" at her fellow artists. I don't think either gender really fully owns making boring music.

With the next track, "Witch Dance", would you believe me if I said that the rockin' riffs and witchy, ghoulish background vocals make a return and sound fantastic? Because they most certainly do. I find the production backing "Sympathy Magic", as well as the songwriting, to be really compelling, too. You have lots of scattered, orchestral bits, as well as lots of woody timbres coming off the percussion, like we're getting a lot of stomping on a big stage. Meanwhile, on top of all of this, Florence gives a borderline-unhinged vocal performance that really fits the lyrics of the track, which I like a lot because there is that virtuosity there and that power, volume, and presence that we've come to expect from her singing typically. But she sounds so desperate and out of her mind as she goes on to describe how she's not really wanting to play it safe anymore because falling within the borders of people's expectations didn't save her from harm or criticism in the past anyway.

After this, though, things do dip down a little bit, in my opinion, on "Perfume and Milk", which is one of a few patient slow burners on the record that take on more of a linear progression. And while it does bring some enchanting vibes for sure, it heads nowhere fast. "The Old Religion" follows this similar, progressively intensifying formula, but the payoff is much better.

And "Drink Deep" shares a lot of overlap in this respect, too, but it feels a lot more like a ritual of sorts, not just due to the instrumentation and the layers of freaky background vocals. Lyrically, Florence describes the process of performing and creating as if it is something that is siphoning off her life force, or she gives away a piece of herself every time she does it. Between her vocal performance, the descriptions, and again, just the the soundtrack of it all in the background, it does sound genuinely like a nightmare.

Rewinding to the middle of the record, though, we also have the song "Buckle", which is an acoustic cut. It's one of the more low-key moments on the entire album and honestly, in a lot of ways, exactly what I have been looking for on a lot of Florence's albums for a while: just an effective, low-key moment where she explores the more tender sides of her voice. And yeah, that is what this track is.

But with that being said, for the general themes of this album, this song here plays some very interesting lyrical angles because despite the incredible talent and influence Florence feels in the realm of music, she describes herself as being pretty powerless in the face of just a little flattery. She is so easily wooed on this song. She likens herself to an ornament hanging off of this guy's jeans or something, like a Labubu. I think adding this track essentially highlights a bit of a dynamic here that this woman can feel powerful and influential and essential in some context, but also very weak-willed in others. Case in point, the following track "Kraken" goes on to further display that power dynamic.

But again, going deeper into the album, Florence continues to subject herself to these very odd relationship dynamics on "Music by Men". It's handily my least favorite song on the album and for several different reasons.

One: I'm just not really into the music itself on the track, as the vocal melodies, chords, and overall production feel like that of a Jewel song but three times more drab and uninteresting. Not that I think Jewel's music is uninteresting; I just think this is a much paler version of that.

And then there's the relationship description itself in the song where Florence talks about each of them going to therapy and on the way, they're not talking or engaging in any way. They're listening to their own respective musical demos or just putting the headphones on to tune one another out. Generally, she views this person she's with as being super egotistical; she hates his band t-shirt. She also describes herself falling in love with people constantly who are talking or interacting with her for maybe only a little more than 10 minutes.

When you take the whole picture of this relationship in totality, I just struggle to see what even the point is. What are the stakes? What are the aspirations? What are the hopes here? I mean, it would seem to me that both of these people don't really like each other at all. And respectively, they seem more into their own crafts— with what they're doing in music and art — than they do each other. But then toward the end of the track, Florence goes back to what she describes as the one thing she can control since love is so difficult, and that is music, as well as performance.

But still, she describes on the song that she's "breaking [her] bones" just to get a four out of five rating. Meanwhile, she says that she's listening to a song by The 1975. "I thought, 'Fuck it. I might as well give music by men a try'," which is quite the comparison. I haven't read anything that would confirm Florence Welch thinks The 1975 just make garbage, boring, stupid music. But seeing that line right after the "four out of five" bit, and then taking that in context with the section about men making boring music because they can on "One of the Greats", people are going to read this side-by-side a certain way, obviously.

Either way I read this, this line to me just comes off as either lazy or cowardly because you're telling me there's not a better name or group you could have put in that line where you're essentially rhyming "five" with "five"? In addition to that, if the intentions behind this line are as what they read, are The 1975 the most praised band in the world, or undeserving of what accolades they have received so far? Or the band that's getting the praise or attention that you should be instead? Are they the standard bearers for low effort and male mediocrity in the industry? If this is a point you really want to make, there's no shortage of targets out there right now. I don't know why your first choice would be a band that doesn't even have a record in the Billboard 200 at the moment. You could be mentioning Justin Bieber and his bloated album. Morgan Wallen. All the AI music out there currently. Maybe even, I don't know, Jelly Roll. It just feels like the 1975 was picked in part because they're a soft target you're not going to get a lot of pushback on mentioning.

Moving on to "You Can Have It All", a really powerful number toward the end of this album. The surrender of it all, it's really an ode to everything Florence feels she has given up and sacrificed in order to make the art and the career she has wanted to make. Something that hits especially hard with the personal context that between this and her last album, she had lost a pregnancy.

Then we have the last track, which is more of a chill, very somber, low-key outro where Florence can be heard, essentially seeking peace, less choppy waters. The whole track feels more like a meditation or a motif than it does a proper song, and it just comes across as a big musical manifestation.

Overall, I think this album has a lot of highlights and a lot of great stuff about it. It certainly has some of the best production and performances on any Florence + The Machine album so far, and a lot of interesting observations and commentary around her fame, her drive, her creativity, and the way it has been received in the world.

However, at times, Florence's feelings on these topics can come across a little insecure or very bitter, maybe even a little out of touch in a way. Because if anything, Florence's lasting power has proven that she is one of the greats, whether a top 100 list says so or not. A lot of those lists are just trying to play it safe and please everybody anyway, which is exactly what this album is not about. That's really when the music and the writing on this LP is at its best – when Florence is passionately and theatrically really diving into the emotion that fuels what she does, as well as the fears and apprehensions that she needs to overcome in order to continue doing it. I'm feeling a strong 7 on this record.

Anthony Fantano. Florence + The Machine. Forever.