Enter Shikari are back after a massive tour spanning across Asia, Europe and the UK with their mixture of synthwave, punk and hard-core, a recipe they have perfected over their 24 year career, with the blistering hot “A Kiss For The Whole World”.
Post- Pandemic Enter Shikari bring the party to you, kicking off with the title track A Kiss For The Whole World, opening with a symphony of brass that leads into a quick flurry of drums from Rob Rolfe, a lick of punk guitars from guitarist Rory Clewlow and frontman Rou Reynolds belting out the title in an almighty shriek that brings excitement and pent up, pandemic enduced energy. The verse is poppy and fun, lyrically it’s loving and expressive before jumping into the massive chorus with the heavier guitars and drum rolls the band are known for. Every second of the track sets up the album perfectly – the pounding bass drum, the drops, the breakdown. Even the ending of the track slowing down with Rou’s sombre vocals closing the track with the title again.
(pls) Set Me On Fire, the first single released for the new record, if you’re not one of the almost 2 million streams on Spotify or 1 million on youtube, is like watching a fireworks display. The growing excitement of the intro and chorus, thundering rythmic guitar and drums backed by the elctropop synth leading into a more punked up vibe through the verse. The chorus is polite and demanding, growing that anticipation before delivering with one catchy as hell hook.
Just like the single videos, (pls) Set Me On Fire is followed by the banger It Hurts, the resounding message of “you get knocked down, get back up and try again” encapsulated with the opening hook. A powerful and invigorating track for a world questioning everything and everyone.
The album is full to the brim with catchy tracks and synth filler tracks, such as Leap Into The Lightning, a more politically fueled song than others on the record, followed by Feed Your Soul with it’s dubstep styled sound, sampling the previous track.
Dead Wood stands out against the rest of the album, with its orchestral backing of stringed instruments and Reynolds’ versatile vocals flowing ever so blissfully before changing genres only the way Enter Shikari can, delivering a distorted vocal melody to close off the track.
In our recent interview with Rou, he expressed the feeling of questioning one’s self and the misidentity of just “being yourself” which is relayed in the final song and it’s closing track, Giant Pacific Octopus (I Don’t Know You Anymore), a track about soul-searching and moving on from the parts of a person that harbours the dark thoughts and negativities.
Once again, Enter Shikari deliver on all efforts with this cracker of an album, hitting hard on social and political issues and powerful messages of positive mental well-being. The album is energetic, melodic and calculated, and in a world where everything is questioned and motives are not trusted, trust that Enter Shikari have the antidote to fix this post-pandemic existence – A Kiss For The Whole World.
A Kiss For The Whole World, will be released on 21st April via SO Recordings / Ambush Reality.
Pre-order A Kiss For The Whole World here.
