ALBUM REVIEW: Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible – Enter Shikari

ENTER SHIKARI: “Abusing music genres’ worthless boundaries since 2003″. A known musing from Rou Reynolds amongst the band’s fans, spoken routinely during their live sets. It’s more than a jestful comment; rather, it’s a synopsis of ENTER SHIKARI’s career. The term ‘abusing’ is apt. ENTER SHIKARI know no consideration for the dos and don’ts of musical umbrellas – from early on in their career, grounding themselves as one of the pioneers in synth-led extreme music on Take to the Skies, to their last pop-rock output The Spark.

2017’s The Spark saw ENTER SHIKARI take a more personal route, with the lyrical content delving into Rou’s feelings of helplessness, not only in what may seem like a bleak hope for the world, but for himself too. It was warmly welcomed by a fanbase that has always had a very hands-on relationship with the band, who are pinpointed frequently as the ‘nice guys of rock’. Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible certainly continues this exploration of the relationship between your own emotional state and the search of hope in today’s climate.

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is arguably ENTER SHIKARI’s most rounded album musically, from the hard-hitting dub sections on apøcaholics anonymøus (main theme in B minor) to the symphony of Elegy For Extinction. Yet, it’s easy to foresee this record splitting opinion. These mixtures of influences and tones are subjectively the most jarring in the band’s discography so far. This is their most ambitious album yet, with tracks that logically should not be sitting side by side. Despite this however, Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible withholds the strongest argument for being considered a concept album within ENTER SHIKARI’s discography so far. You’d think that with the band fast approaching their second decade of creating, they’d be easy to pinpoint, or explain to newbies. However, this is a record that continues to put a spanner in that works: “this ain’t music to distract, this is music to attack”.

The album kicks off with THE GREAT UNKNOWN, swooping in with the staple SHIKARI opener: a cocktail of chaotic club synths that explode in Rory Clewlow’s begrimed guitar licks. It’s just the start of appearances of vulnerable harmonious vocals, backed in the verses by palm muted riffs. On this record, Reynolds doesn’t seem to be shying away from the defenseless lyrical content shown on the band’s last release, as he deliberates: “Is this a new beginning? Or are we close to the end?”

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is a concept album more so than any of ENTER SHIKARI’s previous records. It jumps from pillar to post in a nonsensical yet ingenious way. The indulgent cuts of Waltzing Off The Face of the Earth (II. Piangevole) and Elegy for Extinction see a growth from ENTER SHIKARI’s previous delves into classical orchestra. The latter is a smothering of strings and brass that surge into a doomful movie soundtrack. SHIKARI have put their finger in the orchestra pie before, but not so much in this straight-up operatic way; it cries out for them to mimic BRING ME THE HORIZON’s appearance at the Royal Albert Hall accompanied by a full orchestra in 2016.

It’s both silly and brilliant how mobile ENTER SHIKARI’s goal posts of expectations for their sound are. It’s easy to understand why Rou has mentioned that this record could easily have a sister. As expected, there are some real flirtations with pop on this record. Crossing the Rubicon features familiar playful vocals with summery jolting guitars almost worthy of a girl-band number 1. Rob Rolfe’s percussion is the star of this track, being the foundations of the progression, with a flooring fill that stops this from being another chart-song just before the bridge. This is arguably the most ‘generic’ song of theirs ever, with it being somewhat predictable; a word not familiar in ENTER SHIKARI’s vocabulary before. But yet still, there are those intricacies of layering and surprises that make themselves known upon multiple listens.

There’s plenty of opportunity for sing-alongs on the album, most noticeably on modern living…: “we’re apocaholics, drinking gin and tonics”, a lyric that can be expected to be chanted along with when the band return to London’s Alexandra Palace. Lead single The Dreamer’s Hotel features those well-known assaulting vocals from Rou, mixing the catchiness of the hook with the heavy backbone of the guitars. It also features Rou’s iconic coined “OI!” too, a fundamental in the ENTER SHIKARI diet. Only ENTER SHIKARI could introduce a breakdown with the words: “courtesy disco”.

The common themes of unpredictability in both political and environmental spaces repeat again on Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible. The album almost reads as a warning as much as it is a pondering. From the dread-bearing build up in Waltzing off the Face of the Earth (II. Piangevole), which makes it seem as though JONNY & THE SNIPERS finally got a guest appearance on an actual album, to the more literal lyrical content on the pressure’s on.

T.I.N.A is a sure highlight of the album, with a crescendo of all things ENTER SHIKARI. It flicks between 80s trance to hardcore influenced basslines, that are sure to be sweat-inducing live. As the album continues, it just endures to expand upon the band’s eclectic sound. In the first part of Marionettes, Rolfe’s drums enter the jungle sound of some of the band’s more nuanced influences, supported by muddy synths in its second counterpart as Rou’s voice breaks.

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is yet again an example of a band that knows no boundaries. ENTER SHIKARI have succeeded in producing, whether you like it or not, their gateway album. When promoting this release, Rou Reynolds said: “If a fan is introducing us to their friend, this is where I think people should start. It’s still got things that our band have never done before, but I think it’s more rounded than any other album.”

The St. Albans group show no sign of slowing down in their barrage of any and all music genres, as this is their most ambitious release yet. Rou Reynolds has produced this entire thing, joking that it’s his ‘baby’. And it shows. It’s daring, indulgent in parts, challenging and at times almost frightening. ENTER SHIKARI remain one of the most relevant acts in alternative music, both lyrically and instrumentally. It’s why none of their albums get neglected in their live sets, and are still considered signposts for many into other areas of music. Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible solidifies ENTER SHIKARI’s position of being unrivalled, unpredictable and unpassable. Reynolds has used the term ‘music agility’ to describe their approach to writing. And that’s just it; they never stop moving, growing, evolving. Try and keep up with them.

Rating: 9/10

Nothing Is True & Everything Is Possible is out now via SO Recordings.

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