For Florence Welch, the stage has always been a place of exorcism, but her latest era suggests a more visceral kind of liberation. Following a harrowing medical emergency in 2023 that brought her to the brink of death, the Florence + the Machine frontwoman returned on Halloween 2025 with her sixth studio album, “Everybody Scream.” In a revealing late-year dialogue with L’Officiel USA, Welch describes the record not as a fairy tale, but as a “pure horror” film—a sonic landscape forged from internal fury, mystical healing, and the terrifying fragility of the human body. As 2025 concludes, the album has already been hailed as a masterpiece of “alt-rock survival,” centering on the push and pull of a fame that demands everything. Now, with a massive global tour set for 2026, Welch is preparing to take this “furious scream” to the world’s biggest arenas, inviting her audience to join her in a ritual that turns grief into a superpower and trauma into a triumphant, bone-shaking dance.
The Genesis of a Scream: Trauma and Transformation
The roots of Everybody Scream lie in a moment of absolute silence. During the tail end of the Dance Fever tour in 2023, Welch suffered a life-threatening ectopic miscarriage that required emergency, life-saving surgery. In her interview, she recalls the “clinical brutality” of the experience—the sudden transition from the power of the stage to the vulnerability of the operating table. This brush with death became the catalyst for the album’s central theme: the “horror” of having a body that can fail you. Unlike the folklore-heavy Dance Fever, this record is an unfiltered response to that trauma, moving away from soft metaphors toward a sound that Welch describes simply as “furious.”
Lyrically, the album wrestles with the “sacrifices of ambition.” In the title track, “Everybody Scream,” Welch explores her addiction to the stage, questioning the cost of “running herself ragged” for the praise of an audience. Collaborating with Mitski, Aaron Dessner, and IDLES’ Mark Bowen, she crafted a 12-song cycle that feels both seasonal and eternal. From the pagan-inflected “The Old Religion” to the scathing “Music by Men,” the album serves as a tribute to feeling “herself” again, using nature and mysticism to stitch back together a psyche that was nearly torn wide open.
A Masterclass in “Heavenly Horror”: The L’Officiel Aesthetic
The visual identity of the Everybody Scream era is a stark departure from the bohemian “witch-chic” of the past. For her L’Officiel USA cover, Welch embraced what stylists are calling “Sartorial Sainthood,” blending archival high fashion with monastic undertones. Dressed in Loewe, Cartier, and Valentino, she presents a version of herself that is both armored and exposed. The use of nun-coded headpieces and structural silhouettes mirrors the album’s exploration of purity and constraint. Welch explains that at 39, she feels more confident in her skin than ever before, despite—or perhaps because of—the physical trials her body has endured.
This aesthetic carries over into the music videos and live performances, where Welch utilizes “light architecture” and shadow to create a sense of disintegrating into nothingness. In the “Sympathy Magic” visuals, she appears to rise from the ashes, a literal and figurative resurrection. By reaching for archival pieces like Ghesquière-era Balenciaga and McQueen rosary heels, she is using fashion to tell a story of “the woman who crawled up from under the earth.” It is a visual manifesto of a survivor who no longer cares to be “good,” but instead chooses to be “huge” and “terrifying” under the lights.
The 2026 Global Itinerary: A Ritual of Release
To celebrate the album’s success, Florence + the Machine have announced a gargantuan world tour for 2026, beginning with a UK and European leg in February. The “Everybody Scream Tour” is designed to be a “collective exorcism,” with Welch training more intensely than ever to meet the physical demands of her most operatic setlist yet. The tour kicks off at the SSE Arena in Belfast on February 6, weaving through major European strongholds like Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin before culminating in two massive nights at London’s O2 Arena. These shows are expected to be high-concept rituals, incorporating live orchestral elements to mirror the album’s Wagnerian scale.
The North American leg, beginning April 8, 2026, in Minneapolis, will see Welch hitting iconic venues including Madison Square Garden in New York and the Kia Forum in Los Angeles. Supporting her on these dates is the rising indie-pop artist Paris Paloma, whose “witchy” sensibilities provide the perfect atmospheric bridge to Welch’s headlining set. For Welch, these arena dates are more than just concerts; they are the “only place she feels truly herself,” a sanctuary where the boundaries of society “smash open” and allow for a primal connection between artist and audience.
“One of the Greats”: Reclaiming the Narrative
One of the standout tracks on the new album, “One of the Greats,” serves as a defiant critique of the music industry’s historical sexism. In it, Welch reflects on her early career and the “lukewarm reviews” that often minimized her artistry. She sings about “spitting out songs so you could sing along,” acknowledging the labor required for a woman to be ranked alongside the “ten other women in the hundred greatest records of all time.” The song is a swaggering survey of her kingdom, proving that she has not only survived the indie-rock class of 2008 but has outlasted nearly all of her contemporaries through sheer resilience.
This reclamation of power is a recurring motif in Welch’s recent interviews. She discusses the “anxious shame” of fame and the realization that “being good” didn’t keep her safe. By letting go of the need for approval, she has found a deeper, more authentic form of creativity. Everybody Scream is the sound of an artist who has stopped trying to make ripples and has instead decided to become the entire ocean. It is a record that profit’s from “her madness” in the most beautiful way possible, turning the “terrible gift” of her near-death experience into a legacy of light and sound.
The Future of the Machine: Beyond the Scream
As 2026 approaches, Florence Welch shows no signs of slowing down. Beyond the “Everybody Scream” tour, rumors are swirling about her involvement in a Broadway adaptation of The Great Gatsby, for which she is said to be composing original music. This pivot toward theatrical composition feels like a natural extension of the cinematic, orchestral world she built for her sixth album. Her ability to move between the grit of a rock tour and the prestige of the theater reinforces her status as a multi-hyphenate visionary who is no longer confined by the expectations of the “pop star” label.
Ultimately, the Everybody Scream era is a reminder that the most profound art is often born from the greatest pain. By choosing to “scream as loud as she wants,” Florence Welch has given her audience permission to do the same. As the tour prepares to launch, the message is clear: the Machine is not just running; it is roaring. Whether she is digging a hole in a field or commanding a sold-out arena, Welch remains our most vital high priestess, leading us through the horror and into the peace that lies on the other side.
