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After months of build-up, this announcement marks the first official unpolished preview since the release of the title track ‘Everybody Scream’ earlier this summer, on August 20, 2025. The resounding impression left by this initial glimpse at the new album was one of theatrical intensity and haunting emotional depth, channeling a type of tension caught between a performance persona and internal vulnerability. This marks her dramatic return to the music scene following a life-threatening emergency in 2023; a return that is marked by captivating directness yet unshakeably underpinned by chaos.

In contrast to this poignant and polished first album release single, the footage shared on the band’s social media channels proves to be a glimpse of something more visceral and immediate.

Earlier this year, Florence Welch shared an aesthetic and auditory mood board, marking her intent with the production of the upcoming album. Alongside the help of featured collaborators, like Mark Bowen (of ‘Idles’) , the overwhelming creative vision was one of “witchcraft, folk horror, mysticism, magic, poetry [and] insanity“. Although the creative details of ‘One of the Greats’ remain limited so far, the looser, stripped-back production in this smaller clip suggests the album’s later releases seek to tilt further into this thematically sinister idea.

The audio teasers also accompany an aesthetic anticipation of the album’s release, with the band’s social media channels again curating a type of mysticism, poetic narrative – posting surreal photography, with clips of Welch screaming in a field and marked in imagery seeped in folklore or witchcraft-esque ideas.

 

 

 

 

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As October approaches, bringing with it the last month countdown to Florence + The Machine’s new album, the energy and marked return to Welch’s music career bring with it an increasing anticipation for the album as a whole. Fans have been left in chilling suspense as they await the twelve-track album to be released on Halloween, including a deluxe edition with additional chamber-versions of four songs. With Halloween fast approaching, ‘One of the Greats’ offers a tantalising hint of the tone Florence + The Machine are preparing to unveil.

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Welch has also been dropping mentions of “Witchcraft, folk horror, mysticism, magic, poetry [and] insanity,” as well as a photograph of Simon Critchley’s 2024 book, On Mysticism which could be a main theme to the upcoming album.

Florence recently shared a video of herself, frantically digging up the ground in an empty field which ends in a below shot where she stares into the camera in the hole as she lets out the biggest, most horror filled scream.

The lead singer has made a few appearances leading up to the announcement. The band last performed together as a whole back in 2024 with a full orchestra as the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate the 15th anniversary of their debut album ‘Lungs’, Welch has since joined Taylor Swift on stag to perform their song ‘Florida!!!’ but more recently The Maccabees during their Glastonbury set to perform ‘Love You Better’ as well as ‘Dog Days Are Over’.

‘Everybody Scream’ will be Florence + The Machine first release since their 2022 album ‘Dance Fever’ and will come shortly after the 10th anniversary of their third studio album ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’.

The 10-song soundtrack’s first single is fronted by Florence + The Machine in a haunting cover of ‘White Cliffs of Dover’ popularised by British singer Vera Lynn. The 1975 followed suit with ‘Now Is The Hour’, a traditional Māori song once used to bid farewell to soldiers leaving to fight in World War I. The piece has been credited to various artists and songwriters over the years but was first made famous in the 1940s and 50s by Hollywood stars like Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra. The 1975’s Matt Healy offers a hushed, delicate take on the song, with ambient vocals erupting into horns, only to return to a gentle instrumental. The remaining half of the soundtrack features covers from the likes of Perfume Genius, Nick Cave and Lana Del Rey.

The historical drama, which was created by Todd A. Kessler, will span 10 episodes, with the first three episodes set to arrive globally next Wednesday, February 14 on Apple TV+. Meanwhile, The 1975 are set to embark on their upcoming 2024 ‘Still…At Their Very Best’ UK tour this evening, with their first show taking place at the OVO Hydro arena in Glasgow which has seen superfans camp out overnight in icy conditions.

Despite a series of controversies looming over Healy last year, the frontman has since made a public apology to his fans and those he has allegedly offended. The group boast four sold-out shows at London’s O2 Arena, continuing on to their European leg of the tour which will conclude in Copenhagen on March 10. All remaining tickets for the UK tour are available here.

The New Look full soundtrack:

1. Florence + The Machine – ‘White Cliffs Of Dover’
2. The 1975 – ‘Now Is The Hour’
3. Lana Del Rey – ‘Blue Skies’
4. Perfume Genius – ‘What A Difference A Day Makes’
5. Nick Cave – ‘La Vie En Rose’
6. Beabadoobee – ‘It’s Only A Paper Moon’
7. Joy Oladokun – ‘I Wished Upon The Moon’
8. Bartees Strange – ‘You Always Hurt The One You Love’
9. Sam Dew – ‘I Cover The Waterfront’
10. Bleachers – ‘Almost Like Being In Love’

Listen to The 1975’s cover below:

Known for their distinct fashion sense— Victorian-era punk rock attire with evident Baroque pop influences—the band has swiftly garnered attention for their theatrical and maximalist approach to music. Meeting during fresher’s week in London three years ago, the journey from their first gig, which drew an audience of 20, to supporting the Rolling Stones in Hyde Park reflects their meteoric rise within just three years.

Lead singer Abigail Morris expressed disbelief, saying, “This doesn’t feel real. Has anyone got a pillow I can scream into?” Adding a touch of humour, Guitarist Lizzie Mayland remarked, “We’re going to have to do a collective sob.”

The band faced strong competition from artists like pop-soul vocalist Olivia Dean, renowned DJ Peggy Gou, South African sensation Tyla, and soulful talent Elmiene in the Sound of 2024. The selection process involved a discerning panel of more than 140 industry experts and artists, featuring names like pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo, British singer-songwriter Declan McKenna, and the electronic duo Chase & Status.

Having clinched the prestigious Brits Rising Star prize in December, the BBC Sound of 2024 stands as another noteworthy milestone for The Last Dinner Party. The band recently faced and dismissed rumours of being “industry plants,” with their unique style and gothic ballads standing testament to authenticity.

The Last Dinner Party, consisting of Abigail Morris, Lizzie Mayland, Emily Roberts, Georgia Davies, and Aurora Nishevci, are set to release their debut album, ‘Prelude to Ecstasy,’ on February 2. Their February headline show at London’s Roundhouse on the eve of the album’s release (February 1) is already sold-out. Still, for those eager to catch them live, the band is embarking on a UK and European tour in the coming weeks, with tickets available for purchase here.

Welch stated, “I’m so sorry to say that after an X ray it seems I was dancing on a broken foot last night. It is not in my nature to postpone a show, and certainly not a UK tour, but I’m in pain and as dancers know, dancing on an injury is not a good idea. And have been told not to perform to avoid further damage.”

Her remaining shows were postponed to fans’ disappointment, but on Saturday she kicked (well… not quite) off the tour again at the same venue the injury occurred. She will continue the UK/Ireland tour in Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Leeds, Bournemouth and finish in Dublin, after which she will tour Australia and New Zealand. She returns to the UK in August for Boardmasters Festival.

Dance Fever is a vulnerable and fantastical album reminiscent of Welch’s earlier work. She took inspiration for the name and concept from the idea of ‘choreomania’, a social phenomenon that involved groups gathering to dance manically, thought to bring relief from shared stress and trauma – something that seems to strike a chord in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. She began to collaborate with producer mogul Jack Antonoff (known to mingle with other high-flyers in pop, namely Lorde, Lana Del Rey, and Taylor Swift) in February 2020, just before the pandemic broke out.

Joining her on the tour is Willie J Healey, a singer-songwriter from Oxford. He is set to release his third studio album, Bunny, in March of this year. In his own words, it is going to be a departure from his previous work, and will take inspiration from “funk, Philadelphia soul and R&B”. The lead single, “Dreams”, was released at the end of last year, and last week Healey dropped ‘Thank You’ featuring indie legend Jamie T.

Although tickets officially sold out for all dates, there are fan-to-fan resale tickets still available for the last dates of the UK tour available here.

Remaining UK Tour Dates:

31/1/23 – Motorpoint Arena – Nottingham
01/02 – OVO Hydro – Glasgow
03/02 – AO Arena – Manchester
04/02 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
06/02 – International Centre – Bournemouth
08/02 – 3Arena – Dublin

Gone are the days where one could simply get by on the quality of a good song, in the current climate it’s arguable that a starting out Nirvana couldn’t get on the radio with “Smells Like Teen Spirit” without the thousands of followers necessary to prove their worth. Today it seems the music industry is operating in an almost exclusively algorithmic market that relies more on numbers and statistics to provide proof of an artists potential than it does the traditional ‘gut feeling’ of a cigar toting A&R. Junior scouts now struggle to convince their bosses on a hunch, they need the backing of thousands of thirsty comments on the artists latest well lit bedroom post to gain approval. In many ways it makes complete sense, why risk your job signing someone with no following when you could sign an Instagram model who already has millions of fans in place? It’s a no brainer right? Increasingly the answer seems to be yes, and it’s getting a lot of artists both undiscovered and established in quite the tizz.

Take Halsey for example, you may consider the 27 year old New Jersey singer a house hold name, and you wouldn’t be wrong, she’s sold over 165 million records and streamed over 6 billion times in the US alone, but that doesn’t make her immune to Tik Tok’s sting. In a recent post captioned “I’m tired” she explained how her record label were barring the release of a new song she loved unless they could “fake a viral moment on Tik Tok”. The result? Ironically, 8.8 million views, on Tik Tok.

@halseyI’m tired♬ original sound – Halsey

She’s not the only one, other notably hacked off heavyweights include FKA Twigs, Charlie XCX, Florence Welch, and Rebecca Lucy Taylor AKA Self Esteem, all of whom went to their respective social media outlets to vent their frustration. It’s an interesting conundrum, as Taylor keenly points out “Why are labels so desperate to apply the same techniques to every artist, treating them as social media commodities to sell or personalities to market, rather than talented musicians with their own unique creations, fanbases and brands?”. It seems the ability to remain somewhat mysterious and aloof is largely lost in the ‘share all’ culture that’s emerging, with artists that leaned on their mystique heavily like Florence + the Machine feeling the pinch.

Where this is all going to end up and how damaging or transformative it’s going to be for the industry I don’t know, I’m only allowed 500 words, but one thing’s for sure, it’s certainly stirring up a lot of drama on both sides of the fence.

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Speaking to OfficialCharts.com on their recent win, front-woman Florence Welch has given the following statement, “I’m so grateful and moved to be Number 1 in the UK. There were so many moments when I nearly gave up on this record. When it seemed impossible that it would ever get done. So to have it out in the world and be so embraced is an incredible feeling. Sending so much love and thanks to everyone.”

The group’s new album marks their fifth studio album and was released via Polydor Records on 13th May 2022. Along with its positive commercial reception, Dance Fever has also sired great critical acclaim upon its release. The recording and production of the album was originally scheduled to take place in New York during 2020 but due to Covid-19 the work was delayed. The city that never sleeps can be heard throughout the record; many musical elements associated with New York are incorporated within Dance Fever, the album also sees the band experiment with many different influences including genres such as disco, dance, classic pop and baroque music.

The promotion for the album began earlier this spring when Welch posted the release’s cover art on social media, and information concerning the album’s presale was also included within the post. The first track to be taken from the album was released on 23rd February 2022, “King” was the lead single and was co-written and produced by Welch and American multi-instrumentalist Jack Antonoff. The album’s second and third singles were released the following month and the fourth single “Free” recently dropped on 20th April 2022.  The melodic rock group took to Instagram today to announce the release of “Restraint“, a new track taken from Dance Fever.

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Elsewhere within the UK album charts, Kendrick Lamar’s fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, has placed at number two. The new release has been named this week’s most streamed album and is also the artist’s fourth album to place within the top 10 within the UK album charts. Lamar first gained a high chart placement with his third studio album To Pimp a Butterfly, which was released in 2015 the album placed at number one and was a huge critical success. The 34-year-old rapper next placed at number seven with his 2016 compilation album Untitled Unmastered, and again in 2017 with DAMN. which positioned at number two.

In support of their new album, Florence And The Machine will embark on their Dance Fever tour; the huge tour will include dates in North America, the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. The worldwide concert series is set to begin after the group’s collection of European festival appearances, the band’s festival season includes sets at Orange Warsaw Festival 2022 and Madrid’s famed Mad Cool Festival. The group’s new tour will come to the UK this winter and is scheduled to include two London dates on 18th and 19th November 2022 at The O2.

Florence And The Machine UK tour dates

16/11/2022 – Motorpoint Arena Cardiff – Cardiff
18/11 – The O2 – London
19/11 – The O2 – London
21/11 – Bournemouth International Centre – Bournemouth
22/11 – AO Arena – Manchester
24/11 – Utilita Arena Birmingham – Birmingham
25/11 – First Direct Arena – Leeds
27/11 – Ovo Hydro – Glasgow
28/11 – Motorpoint Arena Nottingham – Nottingham
30/11 – 3Arena – Dublin

Click here to purchase tickets.

After appearing on Greg James’ show on Radio 1 this morning (March 10^th) bandleader Florence Welch explained, “Sometimes the biggest dance songs, I think, have a really sad core to them.” She also went on to explain the myriad of influences on the project, stating the impact of pre-Raphaelite art, the gothic fiction of Carmen Maria Machado and Julia Armfield, as well as movies like The Wicker Man, The VVitch, and Midsommar. You can see certain influences in the music video above. Directed by Autumn de Wilde and choreographed by Ryan Heffington, the Great Gatsby influence is plain to see. A press release went on to say, “The imagery resonated with Florence, who had been touring nonstop for more than a decade, and in lockdown felt oddly prescient.”

In an interview with NME around the release of the first single ‘King’, Welch opened up about her position as a female artist by saying, “I suddenly feel this tearing of my identity and my desires, to be a performer but also to want a family might not be as simple for me as it is for my male counterparts.” She continued, “I had modelled myself almost exclusively on male performers, and for the first time I felt a wall come down between me and my idols as I have to make decisions they did not.”

A fairytale in 14 songs
Available to pre order nowhttps://t.co/Sn0VQeMHo4 pic.twitter.com/5AkcMup5Bo

— florence welch (@florencemachine) March 10, 2022

As of yet, Florence + the Machine are yet to announce any tour dates in support of the new album, but if you’re a Florence superfan in need of a fix, you’re probably not a million miles away from one of the many festivals she is set to appear at over the summer. With appearances at Flow Festival, Øya Festival and Mad Cool Festival you certainly can get hold of the band if you need. You can find full tour information here.

Chapter 1
King

Coming soon…

(Via Lillie Eiger) pic.twitter.com/UDJkQgLvz5

— The Florence + the Machine Fan Club (@FATMFanClub) February 20, 2022

It all comes not one moment too soon, what with their limited output as of recent. Since their 2018 album High As Hope, audiences have been starved of new material, with the 2020 track “Light of Love“ and 2021’s “Call Me Cruella“ being the main exceptions. The latter was made for the 2021 Disney movie, focussing on the infamous 101 Dalmatians villainess.

On writing for the movie, frontwoman Florence Welch said that “Some of the first songs I ever learned how to sing were Disney songs. And the villains often got the best numbers. So to help create and perform a song for Cruella is the fulfilment of a long held childhood dream.” If writing theme tunes for Disney villains isn’t enough, Florence is also writing the music for the new The Great Gatsby Broadway adaptation. Apparently, the original book has a lot of meaning for her, with Welch stating that “This book has haunted me for a large part of my life. It contains some of my favourite lines in literature …. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism.”

However, the band’s future doings aren’t all a mystery. It’s known they’ll be playing at numerous European festivals throughout the summer, visiting the likes of Spain and Finland. They were the final headliners announced for Norway’s Øya Festival, alongside Gorillaz, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and Norwegian singer-songwriter AURORA. Occurring this August from the 9^th-13^th, other well-known acts such as Girl In Red and Yard Act will also be present. It’ll be the first edition of the Øya Festival since 2019, what with COVID forcing its cancellation for the past two years, so it should be an extra special event for music fans all around.

Florence + the Machine’s 2022 European festival circuit continues! OYA FESTIVAL – Oslo, Norway, 12th August FLOW FESTIVAL – Helsinki, Finland, 13th August All upcoming dates for the European tour so far here: https://t.co/T86vEdDVvw pic.twitter.com/EJtbQ7LhDA — The Florence + the Machine Fan Club (@FATMFanClub) January 26, 2022

If you’re interested in seeing Florence + The Machines live, you can look at their touring schedule here. Unfortunately, no UK tour dates have been announced as of yet, but keep your fingers crossed; they’re obviously up to something at the moment.

The show has been dubbed “The Great Gatsby, A New Musical.” Hannah Giannoulis and James Orange are to serve as executive producers. The production will be co-produced by Access Entertainment. It will be directed by Rebecca Frecknall. An original cast recording will be released by Warner Music. The show is set to open on Broadway in New York. Further details of previews and timings are yet to be released.

In a statement, Welch said: “This book has haunted me for a large part of my life. It contains some of my favourite lines in literature. Musicals were my first love, and I feel a deep connection to Fitzgerald’s broken romanticism. It is an honour to have been offered the chance to recreate this book in song.”

Alongside Welch, the show will feature music from Thomas Bartlett, who records music as Doveman. Bartlett notably collaborated with Sufjan Stevens for the track ‘Mystery of Love’ on the soundtrack to the film Call Me By Your Name. The song was nominated for an Oscar and a Grammy. Previously Welch has been involved in a Gatsby project. Florence + the Machine performed the song ‘Over the Love’ for Baz Luhrmann’s 2013 film adaptation starring Leonardo DiCaprio.

The Great Gatsby entered the public domain this year which likely sparked this project. Prior to this year unauthorised reproduction, distribution, display, and creation of derivative works would not have been allowed under copyright law.