Its been 3 years since we ventured out into the great unknown with Rou and the gents from Enter Shikari. The Great Unknown can be an incredibly fickle thing, it can bring you to your destination quickly or you can wander, get lost and eventually rediscover yourself, which seems to be the path that Enter Shikari took. There were some doubts as to how long it could have been in between albums but with the brand-new album, A Kiss For The Whole World, a bright light has been cast in this current world of turmoil and uncertainty for everyone to look to for a piece of positivity in sound format.
Enter Shikari are one of the very few bands that I will try and listen to the lyrics before the music, being a little bit of a muso myself, I tend to gravitate to everything else first before lyrics, but these guys have always had incredible and inspiring lyrics, Rou’s messages are always worth a listen. The topics of choice for this album pass over, identities and Self-esteem or Self-worth, this is a very introspective album. Which makes sense, the time it was written was a solitary time for a lot of people, where else could you look but in?
With this record, they brought back a sense of DIY and freedom to their writing and recording process. Rou directed and produced the single video clips for (pls) set me on fire, It Hurts and Bloodshot and they went out to a farmhouse, powered off solar power, to try and rebuild themselves from the ground up. A Kiss For The Whole World is incredibly accessible to new fans, the music is light on the electronic aspect, incredibly catchy sing along choruses and rockin’ guitar riffs from start to finish. The album is only just over 30mins long, songs are straight to the point and with no real filler tracks, there are only 2 tracks that are the typical hardcore electro bounce that will be amazing in the live set for Rou to jump around to and they are the little outro filler track things they put in.
I couldn’t stop singing along after only a couple of listens of this album, all the choruses are catchy and have wicked hooks, my favourite track was Giant Pacific Octopus (I don’t know you anymore). It has such a catchy guitar and keys riff that got me right from the start. Lyrically it had me as well, dealing with the question of identity, go and check this one out! The singles for this album were a solid choice, (pls) set me on fire, It Hurts and Bloodshot, they show all the elements of the album and what to expect. Although they are great tracks, they aren’t the best off the album in my opinion, so that means you will enjoy the other songs more if you already liked them! Which is what I always hope when bands choose singles, don’t give away the best track straight up.
The new tracks from A Kiss For The Whole World will add more messages to the live performance, the introspective aspect is just another positive message for Rou to bring to the world. I was lucky enough to catch their gig at The Forum in Melbourne last year and their music translates live incredibly well, as well as their messages. The energy these guys bring out in their shows is incredibly positive and you can’t help but get into it. Stop doing your normal everyday routine, sit down, go get some sun and have a listen to this album. It pays to stop and think about something bigger than yourself from time to time and you’ve now got a perfect album to do that to.