Well, well, well… it’s a very good day to be an Enter Shikari fan!
The St Albans heroes have not only unveiled a euphoric and brilliant new single – entitled (pls) set me on fire – they’ve also announced details of their upcoming seventh album and a very special UK live residency in the coming months.
Up first we’ve got the excellent (pls) set me on fire, which you can hear below, and, according to frontman Rou Reynolds, really reignited things for the band following the pandemic.
“Honestly, I thought I was fucked,” he says. “I’ve never felt so detached from my soul, my purpose, my fucking spirit. I didn’t write music for almost two years. The longest I’d gone before that was two weeks. I was broken. It’s almost as if my brain had asked: ‘What is the point in music if it cannot be shared? What is the point in writing music if it’s not to be experienced with others?’ and then promptly switched itself off.
“(pls) set me on fire grew out of that desperation. This song is a projectile vomit of positive energy. Every emotion trapped inside me for two years, finally set free.”
The song is taken from Shikari’s new album A Kiss For The Whole World, which is due out on April 21 via SO Recordings / Ambush Reality. Of its creation, Rou enthuses: “Back to basics. This band – my best friends – bundled into an old farmhouse, miles away from anywhere. Off-grid, and ready to rediscover ourselves. This album is powered by the sun, the most powerful object in our solar system. And I think you can tell. It’s a collection of songs that represent an explosive reconnection with what Enter Shikari is. The beginning of our second act.”
If that’s not enough for you, the band have just announced some really cool residency shows in five cities around the UK. “It’s hard to do anything interesting with live shows today,” explains the frontman. “We wanted to do something different. We’re going to become a local band to five major cities in the UK. It’s going to be interesting to see how the shows evolve every time we return.”
Tickets go on sale on January 26 – keep scrolling to see all the dates.