The Lead Sheet 11/4/2025

The Lead Sheet is your guide to this week’s new music - taking a look at newly released albums, who made them, and how listeners are responding. 

Prolific alt-rock group Florence and the Machine released their sixth studio album, Everybody Scream this week to fantastic initial reviews. The album was inspired by frontwoman Florence Welch’s recent bout with a life-threatening medical condition, and explores Welch’s personal trauma and subsequent recovery. Thematically darker than the group’s most recent LP Dance Fever, Everybody Scream leans into a sort of folksy, witchy aesthetic, and listeners love the tonal shift and vulnerability on tracks like “The Old Religion” and “Witch Dance”. The title track “Everybody Scream” uses horror to communicate the feeling of being beckoned back to the stage by the screams of her audience, despite already running herself ragged in performance. Florence and the Machine also recently announced an upcoming Everybody Scream tour that will kick off in spring of 2026. 

Renowned Swedish musician and songwriter Anna Von Hausswolff also released her sixth album this week, titled Iconoclasts. Hausswolff is known for her experimental avant-garde sound, and Iconoclasts boasts some neo-classical flair. While her previous album All Thoughts Fly was a minimalist exploration of her iconic pipe-organ, composed and performed almost exclusively on the instrument, Iconoclasts goes maximalist, keeping the pipe organ but incorporating a full fleet of other instruments, and adding back in the vocals that listeners were missing from her previous album. Iconoclasts has been receiving near universal acclaim, with some critics even calling it a masterpiece. Hausswolff will also launch an album tour in March of 2026. 

Daniel Avery’s new album Tremor released this week, to great reviews from critics and listeners. Tremor, his seventh LP to date, sees Avery’s sound shift from acid-house and techno towards alt-rock and shoegaze, with some describing the music as somewhere between Massive Attack and Nine Inch Nails. While Avery’s previous albums were either instrumental or used vocal samples, Tremor features an array of guest vocalists, like Alison Mosshart and Ellie Roswell, whose bold choruses blur the lines between genres. Tremor still features club tempos and pulsing kick drums, but allows for rock instruments like guitar and bass to take center stage. Critics love the bold change, and feel Tremor is a strong addition to the musician's discography, if not his best. 

Singer-songwriter Sophie Morgan Howarth, A.K.A Luvcat, released her debut LP Vicious Delicious on Friday to excellent reviews, scoring higher than her previous EP Blushing. The new album’s sound is a fusion of dark-pop, alt/glam rock, and jazz cabaret. Critics and fans commend Luvcat’s velvety vocals, comparing the artist to an edgier Sabrina Carpenter. Luvcat’s theatrical performances and high energy concerts have rapidly earned her a cult following, and Vicious Delicious is being called a late-addition to “Album of the Year” consideration. 

This week, internationally acclaimed jazz drummer Makaya McCraven released his new collaborative project Off the Record, which features a collage of recordings from his previous live performances, compiled into four distinct EP’s, which are also each available separately. In creating Off the Record, McCraven took original past live recordings and edited them in post, adding layers, instruments and rhythms, remixing the original performances into new music. McCraven is known for improvisational beats, and the four included EP’s, PopUp Shop, Hidden Out!, Techno Logic, and The People’s Mixtape, are all distinct- sometimes futuristic, sometimes funk, combining hip-hop with jazz to create something entirely unique. Off the Record’s songs span the decade of 2015-2025, demonstrating McCraven’s growth as an artist and enthusiasm for new ideas. 

Florence and the Machine - Everybody Scream

Oct. 31, 2025

Polydor Records, Republic Records

Anna Von Hausswolff - Iconoclasts

Oct 31, 2025

YEAR0001

Daniel Avery - Tremor

Oct 31, 2025

Domino Records

Luvcat – Vicious Delicious

Oct 31, 2025

AWAL

Makaya McKraven - Off the Record

Oct 31, 2025

International Anthem