Florence + The Machine have shared a euphoric video for their brand new single ‘Sympathy Magic’. Check it out below.
The track is the latest to be taken from the group’s forthcoming sixth full-length album, ‘Everybody Scream’. Set for release on October 31, singer Florence Welch previously said it was inspired by undergoing lifesaving surgery during the ‘Dance Fever’ tour in 2023.
‘Sympathy Magic’ was first shared during the group’s time on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, and is now released officially alongside a new music video directed by longtime collaborator Autumn De Wilde.
It was written and produced with Danny L. Harle and Aaron Dessner, and marks the final single to be released ahead of the album dropping this Friday. Pre-order it here.
“Memory fails me, names and faces blur/ There is only after or before/ Am I so different? Have I changed?/ I do not recognise my face/ The scar fades but pulls inside/ Tugging at me all the time,” Welch sings, as the instrumentals around her gradually build up to the euphoric chorus.
“And alive/ So I don’t have to be worthy/ I no longer try to be good/ It didn’t keep me safe/ Like you told me that it would,” she belts. “So come on, tear me wide open/ ‘Til I’m losing my mind/ ‘Til I cannot contain it.”
The music video captures a similar, powerful feeling to the lyrics, showing the frontwoman looking windswept in the highlands alongside four other women.
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Welch previously revealed that the inspiration for the ‘Everybody Scream’ album came from undergoing lifesaving surgery during the ‘Dance Fever’ tour in 2023.
She has since opened up further about the procedure, revealing that she had suffered an ectopic pregnancy. An ectopic pregnancy occurs when the fertilised egg is implanted in a fallopian tube, rather than the uterus. It’s uncommon, happening in only around 1 in 90 pregnancies, per the NHS.
“The closest I came to making life was the closest I came to death,” Welch explained in a recent interview. “And I felt like I had stepped through this door, and it was just full of women, screaming.”
You can find more advice and support around ectopic pregnancy here.
Around that same time, Welch had said that exploring spiritual mysticism and folk horror helped inspire the album – understanding the limits of her body and questioning what it meant to be “healed”. Other themes tackled include the exploration of womanhood, partnership, ageing and dying.
The upcoming album features contributions from IDLES‘ Mark Bowen, Mitski and The National’s Aaron Dessner – all of whom worked with Welch on the title track, too. Previous singles to be released include ‘One Of The Greats‘, and the title track, which they played on The Graham Norton Show earlier this month.
Florence + The Machine are set to embark on a UK and European arena tour in February, which includes two nights at The O2 in London – find any remaining tickets here.
Last week they also unveiled North American tour dates for 2026, with support coming from Rachel Chinouriri, SOFIA ISELLA, CMAT and Mannequin Pussy. Tickets for those dates go on sale on November 5 at 10am local time, and will be available here.
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