everybody scream

like, breaking it down into pairs from how they're showcased here:

we start with her first two albums, that both have an identifiable theme of fantasy (which is honestly the biggest reason why most fans hold one of these two up as their fave/best album from her, from what i've seen). you see her eyes closed, face turned away from the camera/the viewer because she is lost in her own mind, a world of her own making. she turns away from the world because music is her escape from it, an opportunity to make something beautiful that's worth escaping to

now for her 3rd and 4th albums, HB3 in particular is a HUMONGOUS landmark in her eras of personal development shining through into her music and it carries on into HAH too. both of these albums were made with florence using her music as an outlet for her real emotions, her real experiences; a way to finally face the world instead of turn away from it. she's staring dead on ahead because she's no longer hiding from it

and now moving on to her 5th and 6th albums, there is more of a difference between these two than there are between the first two pairs, but notably now she has an identifiable combination of traits from the first and second pairs. there is an element of performance, of fantasy, a scene set up for display much like that of her fantasy albums (specifically lungs, look at the background of lungs compared to her 2nd/3rd/4th albums) but still has her gaze facing forward instead of away now, the real kicker here in the difference: in Dance Fever it was definitely more of a thematic fantasy album, her intended "witchy horror" album, where she gazes forward but not directly at the camera like her first two. but in Everybody Scream, such a raw emotional album full of grief, she looks directly at you, like she does in her 3rd and 4th albums