Florence Welch of Florence + The Machine has shared another glimpse of her upcoming sixth album, ‘Everybody Scream,’ set to release on 31st October. The nearly eight-minute track serves as an epic reflection on the cost of being recognized as ‘One Of The Greats.’ With a sound reminiscent of Patti Smith's gritty poetry-rock blend, Florence contemplates musical legacy and the pressure to validate oneself, particularly in a predominantly male industry: “It must be nice to be a man / And make boring music just because you can,” she expresses. Discussing the song's creation, Florence explained, “I find it hard to articulate this one; it was like a lengthy poem about the cost of greatness. Who determines what that means? Why do I desire it so much? Why am I never content? I feel like I lose a part of myself every time I create a record, and I nearly faced that fate on the last tour. Still, I always pick myself up to try again, striving to appease that one critic or to finally create something perfect enough for me to rest.” She further elaborated: “In the early stages of my career, I faced constant ridicule for my expansive expression. I was thrust into the limelight while hearing repeatedly that I didn’t deserve it or that it wasn’t good simply because others didn’t like it. So, perhaps this is a 15-year release of frustration. Yet, some lines I retained because I thought they were amusing.” The single, recorded in one take with IDLES’ Mark Bowen, was produced by Aaron Dessner, who, according to Florence, “helped us elevate it to a truly transcendent level.” “I aimed for it to feel like you were fading away by the end,” she mentioned. “That’s often how the creative process feels to me — a cycle of death and rebirth.” Check out the captivating visualizer for ‘One Of The Greats’ below.
For more than 18 months, Sprints have hardly taken a moment to rest. The triumph of their debut album in 2024 led them to perform in venues from Brooklyn to Berlin, but back home, things were rapidly changing. Faced with a series of significant transformations that threatened their very foundations, they had no choice but to reconstruct themselves and the band into a new, more powerful version.
The Irish troublemakers whose threats are as serious as their actions.
She characterizes this second single from ‘Everybody Scream’ as “a 15-year release of frustration.”