ENTER SHIKARI - A KISS FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
To say Enter Shikari are an interesting band to listen to is an understatement. From their early beginnings in 2003 leading up to their debut album Take to the Skies they introduced a newfound progressive mix of synth pop elements and alternative metalcore-esque screams that allowed them to stand out and create their signature and abnormal sound that their audience love them for.
Since then, the band pushed their experimentalism to new precedents, each album taking countless left turns creatively, sonically and aesthetically. With the release of 2020s Nothing is True & Everything is Possible, all eyes were on the band and how they would evolve further past that, in the midst of a pandemic which brought uncertainty regarding live performances, and low motivation worldwide.
Fast forward three years later, and Enter Shikari’s seventh studio album A Kiss For the Whole World is indeed a bold step forward for what seems to be becoming the future of the alternative sound and the creativity that comes with it.
The opening track titled after the album is an apparent signal for the atmosphere and change that the band have brought with them. Featuring fascinating brass additions on top of a captivating synth instrumental that sounds like it has its roots stemmed within Pendulum-esque tracks is a fiery start to what is a highly entertaining listen.
Followed by the lead single ‘(pls) set me on fire' and the quite possibly standout tracks ‘It Hurts' and ‘Leap Into The Lightning’, it is apparent that the electronic-core goliaths have captured the vision they sought out to achieve with this album. As lead singer Lou Reynolds noted, they wanted to create ‘a high energy album of bangers', and for the most part they have succeeded in that task, providing their audience with outbursts of electronic breakdowns and catchy choruses.
‘feed yøur søul’ takes a 180 into a drum and bass interlude which leads into ‘Dead Wood', a track which quite interestingly delves into a string based instrumental. Throughout the course of the song a brilliant build up towards the end will leave their listeners longing for more of the same. The one thing that is definite is ghat ‘Dead Wood' will be interesting to witness in a live setting.
Following the solid first half of the record, it feels as if the band falls into complacency with the sounds they have built rather than further evolve them. While it is still more than enjoyable, there isn’t much to seperate the songs featured in latter half between each other. ‘Goldfish' has quite an aggressive tone to it which purposefully contradicts the song’s chorus quite well, creating a more memorable song on the back end of the album.
The final two tracks come in the form of ‘Giant Pacific Octopus (i don’t know you anymore)' and ‘giant pacific octopus swirling off into infinity...’ and leave a lot to be desired based off of the titles. While both would seem to be linked quite seamlessly, they instead have been cut into two tracks, and could have further benefited from a midsection linking the two and creating a epic finale to an otherwise really interesting project.
In conclusion, while Enter Shikari’s 7th studio album A Kiss For The Whole World leaves a bit to be desired structure wise, sonically it is a more than enjoyable listen and is bound to be accepted and by their listeners nonetheless. It is a welcome addition to the band’s extraordinary repertoire.
Dan Tsourekas
★★★☆☆