Florence goes to the dark side on Everybody Scream: a Halloween treat with nods to Frankenstein and Buffy The Vampire Slayer…and a witch choir

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FLORENCE + THE MACHINE: Everybody Scream (Polydor)

Verdict: Gothic grandeur

The Last Dinner Party, a rock band from London, could have made a bigger impact with their new album, ‘From The Pyre.’ Releasing it two weeks before Halloween seemed like a missed opportunity, as the spooky theme would have fit perfectly with the holiday.

Florence Welch, known as Florence + The Machine, released her sixth album, Everybody Scream, today, and it feels perfectly timed.

This collection is ideal for Halloween with its spooky autumn atmosphere, stories of magic and wizards, and a unique medieval choir sound.

While writing the songs, Welch, age 39, did research on traditional stories from the Renaissance at a London library. She also drew inspiration from sources like the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein.

Let me tell you, this album grabs you right from the start! The opening track is just explosive – it’s got this huge, driving energy that instantly made me think of Muse, and I can already picture it filling arenas on tour. It’s a really raw, visceral song about Florence pushing herself to the absolute limit, and the lyrics are incredibly evocative – she’s singing about giving everything she has, even to the point of exhaustion, with lines about ‘blood on the stage’ and all the magic and effort that goes into a performance. It’s powerful stuff!

By the time she launched into “One Of The Greats,” I was completely hooked. The lyrics are just… haunting. She sings about crawling out of the earth, all raw and broken, and it feels like she’s talking about being reborn, sharing her struggles so we can all connect and sing with her. It’s incredibly powerful.

Things seem spooky and playful on the surface, but this album is more than just a fun, theatrical performance from Welch. She’s usually known for creating a dramatic stage persona, keeping her personal life private. However, with this work, she delves into deeper themes like feminism, the reality of getting older, and the difference between how we present ourselves to the world and who we truly are.

The events of the past year deeply influenced this album, making it both incredibly strong and deeply personal. In August 2023, Florence Welch underwent emergency surgery after experiencing a miscarriage during an ectopic pregnancy. Her recovery led her to explore themes of mysticism and folk horror. While the album doesn’t directly mention these difficult experiences, Welch’s voice carries a raw emotionality, shifting between gentle whispers and powerful, painful cries.

After being warmly welcomed onstage with Taylor Swift during the final UK date of the Eras tour at Wembley Stadium last year, Florence Welch carefully crafted her new album, Everybody Scream. She worked closely with a variety of talented artists – including Aaron Dessner from The National, singer-songwriter Mitski, and punk guitarist Mark Bowen – each bringing a unique sound to the record.

Florence + The Machine’s latest work revisits the indie-rock sound of her acclaimed first album, Lungs. The song ‘Kraken,’ inspired by the mythical sea creature, feels like it would fit perfectly on her 2011 album, Ceremonials. And ‘You Can Have It All,’ with its powerful drums, strings, and woodwinds, reminded me of her recent symphonic performance at the Royal Albert Hall in 2024.

The most honest moments often come when things are kept simple. On her song ‘Perfume And Milk,’ she reflects on getting older, singing, ‘Now I am changing, becoming something else.’ The song evokes the sound of 1970s singer-songwriters from Laurel Canyon.

The song “Buckle” is a quiet, personal track where she reflects on whether she still wants to be a musician, confessing she feels too old for the lifestyle. Similar to her friend Taylor, she struggles with the idea of leaving the performance world behind.

She revisits this idea throughout her work, often with a playful tone, as seen in The Old Religion. She describes it as a story about a flawed hero returning for another chapter – specifically, the sixth season. She admits that she particularly enjoys exploring the most challenging and difficult parts of the narrative.

Released around Halloween, the album definitely has a dark atmosphere, but also feels more personal and vulnerable from Florence Welch. It’s a complex listen, but a powerful comeback.

Florence + The Machine will kick off their UK tour on February 6, 2026, at the SSE Arena in Belfast. Tickets are available at ticketmaster.co.uk.

 

CAT BURNS: How To Be Human (Sony)

Verdict: Celebrity Traitor bares her soul

Cat Burns might have been good at deceiving people on the TV show The Celebrity Traitors, but her new album feels much more genuine and open.

Her songs are honest and heartfelt, drawing from personal experiences like her first major breakup and the loss of her grandfather. While sometimes interrupted by raw, emotional voice notes – including some where she’s clearly upset – they still feel genuine and relatable.

In her song ‘Can Time Move Faster?’, she comforts herself, hoping things will improve. Meanwhile, ‘All This Love’ expresses her commitment to embracing life and being more open, inspired by her grandfather. She explains she’s been making an effort to socialize more, saying, ‘I’ve been going out more, I’ve been seeing friends on the weekends.’ Ultimately, she views this period as a chance for growth, recognizing that ‘maybe the gift in all of this’ is learning to be vulnerable.

This artist from London skillfully blends personal sadness with upbeat folk-pop and energetic dance tracks.

The album features a variety of sounds – gentle acoustic guitar on “I Hope It’s Me,” rich strings on “Lavender,” and upbeat, danceable rhythms on “Girls!,” a song celebrating love between women. It even includes a country-style track, “When I’m With You,” as many albums do.

Boosted by her TV fame, these accessible tunes could make her a household name.

Cat Burns starts a UK tour on November 19 at Glasgow Academy (ticketmaster.co.uk).

 

BEST OF THE NEW RELEASES…

ROCK & POP

THE CHARLATANS: We Are Love (BMG)

The Charlatans are back after eight years with a solid new album. While it might not be as explosive as Oasis’s heyday (they famously opened for them in 1996), it’s a confident return, even though it draws heavily on the sounds of ‘Madchester’ and Britpop. A standout track is the Beach Boys-inspired ballad, ‘Now Everything’. Tim Burgess boldly proclaims on ‘Deeper And Deeper’ that their song will be played on the moon – a bit of an exaggeration, perhaps, but it’s a good reminder of their musical talent.

ADRIAN THRILLS

 

CLASSICAL

BLISS: Miracle In The Gorbals (Chandos)

Arthur Bliss’s music for the ballet Miracle In The Gorbals was significant in the beginning stages of the Royal Ballet’s history.

This piece has only been fully performed once before, and this recent rendition led by Michael Seal is exceptional – the BBC Philharmonic’s performance is truly outstanding.

Bliss’s music is appealing, and despite a violent ending where a Christ-like figure (originally played by Robert Helpmann) is killed, this final scene is relatively brief, lasting just four minutes.

The 80-minute recording features the complete premiere performance of Arthur Bliss’s Metamorphic Variations, a piece he wrote for his friends, the artists George and Ann Dannatt.

Instead of focusing on one main melody, Bliss introduces three distinct musical ideas, which he calls ‘elements,’ and then creatively develops thirteen different variations from them. The recording also boasts excellent sound quality.

GLUCK: Opera Arias (Signum Classics)

Ann Hallenberg, a Swedish mezzo-soprano in her late 50s, continues to sing with a beautiful voice and impressive skill.

She performs ten scenes from operas by Gluck, featuring two recordings never before released. It’s disappointing, however, that she doesn’t include his most well-known aria, ‘Che faro’ from Orpheus.

There was enough space for it, though removing the beautifully performed “Dance of the Blessed Spirits” by The Mozartists, led by Ian Page, could have created even more. Fortunately, the piece “Che puro ciel” was included.

Right from the start, in the aria ‘Resta, o cara’ from Il Trionfo Di Clelia, Hallenberg showcases her impressive range, moving seamlessly between smooth, flowing melodies and powerful, ornamented passages.

The opera also features another piece for the character Orazio, first performed by the castrato Giovanni Manzuoli, and many other arias are sure to delight opera fans.

TULLY POTTER

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2025-10-31 18:53