Cottage wh*res and coven queens, gather round. 1500s sirens with bleeding nipples and thrashing tails couldn’t out-sing Florence & The Machine when she’s in her mythic bag. And honestly? She’s been haunting (and treating us with) folklore since forever, so a Halloween album drop was never going to be a trick. Everybody Scream (produced by Florence Welch, Aaron Dessner, Mark Bowen & James Fordis) is what happens when gothic cathedral choirs get drunk on moonlight and sea salt. It’s got all the eerie elegance we crave—windchimes that tinkle not by breeze but by the ghost in the rafters on ‘Drink Deep,’ banshee wails curling through ‘You Can Have It All,’ and titles that flaunt their witchiness on lace sleeves, like ‘Witch Dance’ and ‘Sympathy Magic.’
To celebrate this deliciously deadly dawn, we conjured five crystal grids—one for each of our top tracks. Think moon-charged quartz, screaming carnelian, and obsidian that’s seen things. Because if Florence just opened a portal, you know we’re stepping through—in heels, of course.
🩸’Witch Dance’
Sounding like a possession in motion from the first breath, ‘Witch Dance’ channels the Irish grief ritual of keening—a loud, high-pitched wail for the dead—to express not just sorrow, but its collective release. The sound appears first in the intro, haunting the air, then sinks into the production like a ghost remembering its body. Yet beneath the communal mourning lies something achingly personal: a metaphorical coitus with death, referencing Florence’s near-death experience following an ectopic pregnancy two years ago. It all culminates in one of the record’s most gutting lines: “there’s nobody more monstrous than me.”
Ritual Grid for ‘Witch Dance:’
This grid hums where grief and ecstasy blur—light a single candle and let the flame waver with your breath.
- Begin with Garnet at the base, the life-force ignition stone that grounds passion into the body and keeps your spirit tethered when it wants to drift.
- Place Obsidian at the left point, a torch in the dark—it transforms pain into power, fear into fire.
- End with Moonstone at the right point, the crystal of divine surrender, helping you release what must die so something softer can rise.
Sway with it. Let your pulse keep time with the keening. This isn’t mourning—it’s resurrection in motion.
🌊 ‘Kraken’
A ‘Cassandra’ lyric parallel? Yup, ‘Kraken’ has it. Where ‘Cassandra’—based on the Trojan princess cursed by Apollo so her prophecies would never be believed—asks, “Well, can you see me? I cannot see you,” ‘Kraken’ replies, “Well, do you see me now?” Both are metaphors for how the industry treats women as disposable, never granted the same footing as their male peers, only for her now to rise, colossal and undeniable, above what they once imagined. Its production is gorgeous: siren backing vocals, floorboards that creak like ship decks, the crackle of storm wind, and clapping chants that sound like beer-soaked sailors hailing their queen.
Ritual Grid for ‘Kraken’:
This one’s for when you’re done shrinking for anyone.
- Start with Aquamarine as the base—the ocean’s own crystal, a calm current through emotional turbulence.
- Place Labradorite at the left point for transformation’s shimmer—it’s the flash right before you break the surface.
- Finish with Chrysocolla on the right point, the stone of truth and song, to reclaim your voice and let it echo like waves against steel.
Breathe like the tide: in power, out release. You’ve always been the storm they whispered about.
🥀 ‘Buckle’
Even when thousands of adoring roses get thrown on stage, it’s the haunting, withered black one that catches your eye—the one that reminds you what it feels like when your muse takes you for granted. ‘Buckle,’ co-written by Mitski, is an ode to that lonely ache of being an option even when, in Florence’s case, the entire world treats her like a star. With its hushed, stripped-back guitar melody, it’s the moment the curtains fall away and you’re not watching the bewitching siren anymore—you’re watching the woman underneath.
Ritual Grid for ‘Buckle’:
Lay your crystals under dim candlelight—no spotlight here, just soft flicker.
- Rhodonite sits at the heart center: its rose-pink glow streaked with black veins, a spell for love after chaos.
- Place a Smoky Quartz at the left point to ground your grief and dissolve any attachments that still hum with old pain.
- End with Rose Quartz at the crown or center of your palm, its light-pink aura whispering, you are worthy of softness, even when the music stops.
Breathe deep. Let the melody hum through your bones. This is how you heal when even the applause feels lonely.
🕯️ ‘The Old Religion’
Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Florence & The Machine fans, eat your heart out. When talking to Radio X, Florence said that while writing ‘The Old Religion’ with Aaron Dessner, she was trying to craft something that belonged in those worlds. A few decades may have passed since Buffy’s slay-age, and our vampires might now come with daylight rings and leather jackets (looking at you, Damon Salvatore), but this track shows us exactly what those shadowy realms would sound like, infused with Florence’s haunted brilliance.
Beyond its vampiric glamour, ‘The Old Religion’ also confronts addiction—its harrowing guitar-piano pairing layered with trembling drums and the biting line, “And it’s your troubled hero back for season six.” The lyric mirrors both Florence’s own cyclical rebirth in her sixth album and Buffy’s literal resurrections throughout the series: her leaps through portals, her returns from death, her endless struggle to find light in the dark.
Ritual Grid for ‘The Old Religion’:
This grid hums best under candlelight—a flicker for every life you’ve survived.
- Start with Pyrite at the base: a golden shield of unshakable confidence, your armor when the shadows flirt too close.
- Anchor Black Tourmaline at the left point to keep you grounded through energy surges—the kind that make your pulse feel supernatural.
- End with Carnelian on the right point for raw instinct, sacred rage, and the courage to release what no longer feeds you.
Let the music rumble through your ribs like a heartbeat you’ve heard in a hundred lifetimes. You’ve slain your monsters before—this time, you dance with them.
🌙 ‘And Love’
Our gorgeous outro—and perhaps a subconscious echo of ‘My Love’ from Dance Fever—’And Love’ feels like the wish the album itself has been building toward. Amid its messy, scream-worthy sisters, Florence describes this track with Zane Lowe on Apple Music as the quiet incantation that wants to come true. There’s this stunning duality: Florence describes love as a kind of deep hibernation in the second verse, then transforms it into a mantra by the chorus, repeating “peace is coming” like she’s manifesting serenity by living in the end. Between the glimmering chimes reclaiming their spotlight and Florence’s celestial vocals, it’s a lullaby that feels too brief for the kind of calm it casts.
Ritual Grid for ‘And Love’:
Set this grid somewhere gentle—on your nightstand, altar, or near your heart as you drift toward dreams.
- Begin with Selenite at the base, a beam of divine clarity that purifies and allows light to flow through the cracks you once called flaws.
- Anchor Green Aventurine to the left point for steady heart healing and the courage to open again.
- Close with Lepidolite, lightly infused with lavender if you can, on the right point to soothe anxiety and whisper peace through your aura.
Take a breath, slow and sure. Let the words “peace is coming” echo softly within you until they no longer sound like hope—only truth.
Which crystal grid are you stuffing into your bra? You know Florence would approve. Or maybe you’ve got your tarot deck spread across the floor, asking if you’re “gonna be in pit” for her newly announced North American tour—featuring Rachel Chinouriri, SOFIA ISELLA, CMAT, and Mannequin Pussy joining the coven for select dates.
Either way, manifest a blessing from us by tweeting your own crystal grid inspired by one of the other songs @thehoneypop. Then follow our Facebook and Instagram for more of the Halloween magic we dropped all October long.
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