Florence Welch is back and better than ever with the release of fifth studio album, ‘Everybody Scream’, and now, the track ‘Sympathy Magic’, a raw and full-hearted highlight of the collection,  steps into the spotlight due to the release of a female-centred music video, a true pinnacle of the album rollout. From the first listen to the song individually, I had a completely different perspective than when I listened and watched the video. On first listen, I was instantly demoralised at the hard-hitting factor of the lyricism from the get-go. In the first verse, Welch sings vaguely of the feeling of major change when a traumatic event occurs, “I do not recognize my face/ The scar fades but pulls inside /Tugging at me all the time”. Yet, in the video at first glance, we are met with a Shakespearean image of cloaked women, huddling up as a somewhat source of familiar comfort. 

This image of female camaraderie is depicted further, specifically within my favourite lyric of the entire track, “let the chorus console me”, a gorgeous method of displaying her art as a songwriter as a way to soothe her virtues, yet also visualising in the video her chorus of witches, and how they also comfort her in troubling times as we see her being flooded with the hopeful arms of her cult-like huddle. 

This video, overall meddles with continuous releases of belts from Welch, contrary to the feeling of realising how alive you are on a countryside run and the imagery of an enchanting Renaissance painting landscape of bright skies, green fields, flowy dresses, and women with messy hair and a glimpse in their eye to never look back.

Welch herself, in an interview with Radio X, described the phrase ‘Sympathy Magic’ as “The magic of connection and what that can do when you’ve been through something”. This track reminds us of the beautiful importance of camaraderie and consolation when facing hardships. Welch is yet to lose the beauty of her appeal that struck her to fame in the 2000s.

She is indignant and righteous, and that’s exactly what young women want to hear. 

Amy Porter

 @amy.louiseporter

Image: Autumn de Wilde

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