With out reside music, Enter Shikari’s Rou Reynolds discovered himself in a artistic drought. When the plug was pulled on gigs due to the unfold of COVID-19, he didn’t write a notice for a yr and a half, his inspiration and motivation drained; the band launched their most up-to-date report ‘Nothing Is True and Every little thing Is Doable’ in April 2020, as the dimensions of the second was nonetheless rising.
“My mind was mainly saying, ‘What’s the purpose in writing music when you can’t share it in a life expertise with others?’” Reynolds advised NME again in January. “My sense of objective had disappeared. It was very surreal as a result of we had been primarily witnessing the demise of our band, and we couldn’t do something about it.”
It’s no shock, then, that ‘A Kiss For The Complete World’ is fuelled by an ever-present feeling of renewal. It feels louder and brighter – the title observe’s triumphant opening fanfare provides strategy to thrumming guitars and excited, pattering percussion whereas ‘(pls) set me on hearth’ shimmies in with a technicolour samba vibe, Reynolds’ voice rasping with zeal. Right here, on their seventh album and 20 years down the road, Enter Shikari sound maybe probably the most joyful they’ve ever been, and even once they develop into characteristically philosophical, it nonetheless comes from a spot of positivity. ‘It Hurts’, for instance, seeks glimpses of daylight within the clouds with its message about studying from failure, whereas the glitchiness of ‘Leap Into The Lightning’ kinds the sonic backdrop of an ode to the facility of spontaneity.
Regardless of that brightness being increased up on their agenda this time round although, they by no means abandon their social conscience. The rave-ready ‘Bloodshot’ seems to be with intrigue at outrage tradition, and the ominous ‘goldfish~’ sees Reynolds attempt on the footwear of a power-thirsty chief, providing a lesson that “when folks really feel powerless, they’ll not often resist”
Their message is as potent as ever as is the conviction. Amid the bleakness of cost-of-living-crisis Britain, the shot of pleasure it gives is a welcome tonic, notably from surprising quarters. Shikari have already mastered the sensation of the world retreating on their final report; this time, they’re positioning pleasure as an act of resistance.
Particulars
- Launch date: April 21, 2023
- Document label: SO Recordings / Ambush Actuality
