Blood-vessel popping post-hardcore. Sweeping orchestral actions. Technicolour industrial dubstep. These are just some of the flavours that hybrid rockers Enter Shikari have labored their means by means of over the past 25 years – but, someway, they’ve nonetheless obtained extra methods up their sleeve. Like… writing, recording and producing a whole file in secret, solely to drop it completely out of the blue on a random Friday? That’s a reasonably spectacular trick, and one the band pulled off final week.

After we converse to guitarist Rory Clewlow, it’s the calm earlier than the storm. He’s giddily conscious of the chaos that can await when Shikari’s seventh studio album, Lose Your Self, drops outta nowhere in a couple of weeks time – however he’s additionally optimistic that followers will find it irresistible. “Our final album, A Kiss For The Complete World [2023] had such a giant construct up, and it even reached primary within the UK charts, which was superb,” he displays. “However this time we wished to do one thing a bit extra enjoyable. Hold folks on their toes.”

Whereas the discharge comes as a shock for followers, the contents actually is not going to. With the ferocity of The Prodigy tousling with a bear, this newest instalment is simply as frenetic, artificial and politically charged as ever. From Lose Your Self’s opening slap of massive beat drum and bass, to the bare-boned punk rock angle of Can’t Hold My Arms Clear, it’s a one-stop-shop of all of your Shikari necessities. And it’s all tied collectively by its determined howl for unity in a divided world.

Collectively Stronger

The choice to launch the file in a single chunk is a symbolic reflection of the unifying energy it incorporates. It carries the identical very important torch Shikari have waved way back to 2009’s Widespread Dreads minimize Solidarity, sure that standing collectively in opposition to adversity is one of the best ways to fight prejudice, problem governing our bodies and heal nations.

In an effort to rile up the lots, Lose Your Self embodies the previous Shikari …Meltdown adage: “nations are simply traces drawn within the sand with a stick”. The interconnectivity of humanity lies on the core of this file, with the band decrying baselessly divisive rhetoric and emphasising how “we’re all one”, a proven fact that Discover Out The Exhausting Method proudly proclaims with gusto.

As frontman Rou Reynolds shortly chips in to clarify, the title is a twist on the phrase ‘lose your self’, pointedly splitting the tie between ‘your’ and ‘self’ to spotlight how society must shake its egocentric, self-focused mentality to make progress. “‘Lose Your self’ typically merely means “swap off”, “go loopy”, “lose your thoughts” – Lose Your Self means nearly the alternative,” he muses.

“The title encourages you to note our shared actuality, discover how you’re linked to others, and to the pure world,” the singer continues. “It drops the concept that you’re nothing however a self-interested particular person — an thought relentlessly bolstered by our fashionable system.”

Mass Impact

In consequence Lose Your Self is rendered a command. And it’s a command that transcends the group’s data; even within the flesh, their reside reveals function a significant hub of group, permitting folks to ‘lose their self’ and turn into a unified mass of keen, sweaty our bodies.

Their tight-knit, impassioned group serves as one of many band’s crowning achievements, and guitarist Clewlow is crammed with delight when he displays on it. “We frequently hear that Shikari reveals really feel like a secure house for folks, an opportunity to combine and make a great deal of pals,” he says. “That’s been a theme all through our entire profession – that sense of unity and group. Seeing that first hand, it makes you viscerally really feel the significance of reside music.”

It’s precisely why the group kicked off this new period with a present at Manchester’s Devil’s Hole, a tiny 400-cap venue that allowed them to rise up shut and private with their fanbase. In November, they’ll be kicking off their boldest enviornment tour but, however every ticket comes with a small levy in direction of the Music Venue Belief in help of these smaller impartial venues.

“The world is turning into so disconnected due to social media, however music venues are an amazing house for connecting in the true world, realising what all of us have in frequent and constructing a group,” Clewlow displays. “It’s essential for younger folks to have a spot they’ll go and expertise ‘analogue’ issues like reside music.”

Exhausting Graft

After all, this new file is the proper excuse to lure folks out to a reside present. From the chunky metallic guitars of Discover Out The Exhausting Method to the climactic Useless In The Water, it’s a complete home-run for the Shikari lads. In addition they wished to throw in a couple of options to amplify Lose Your Self’s message of unity – specifically Architects’ Sam Carter – however plans fell by means of.

“We initially requested Sam to be a visitor vocalist on Useless In The Water specifically, and he was eager,” Clewlow remembers. “However he finally got here again and stated ‘Oh, dude, I shouldn’t – I’ve been doing too many options not too long ago…’ His vocals would have been good, however perhaps he can sing on it reside later down the road.”

Although, there’s considerably of an elephant within the room. As Shikari proceed to pioneer their very own realm of politically-charged, future-thinking sound, it’s essential to stay one step forward of the curve – and, within the band’s case, that has meant decentralising the common-or-garden riff. As Clewlow explains, if a monitor doesn’t want guitar, there’s no level forcing it into the combination. “

“I’m really continuously checking myself to guarantee that my ego is just not getting in the best way of constructing good music,” Clewlow laughs. “Prior to now I might need protested, however now I can inform what’s greatest for the tune. If meaning no guitar, depart it out.”

Shifting Priorities

Nonetheless, in the event you can’t hear a guitar on a Shikari monitor, that doesn’t imply it’s not buried in there. In an effort to evolve alongside along with his band, Clewlow has realized to adapt his instrument.

“I really like maintaining with new applied sciences, and my Kemper Profiler implies that I can play my guitar like a synth,” he explains. “I at all times use the Kemper’s Formant Shift impact, which modifications the type of the sound in a very attention-grabbing means. You may get some wild sounds that you just’d by no means, ever guess got here from a guitar.”

Take The Flick Of A Change I, for instance. The monitor has a continuing artificial presence – however it’s really Clewlow working his Kemper magic. “I exploit it in nearly each tune on the album, however that monitor actually stands out,” the guitarist notes, illustrating his level by performing his half acapella.

He nods his head in time, imagining every hit of the EDM-infused beat, whereas sounding out the thump of his foundational synth layer. “Earlier than the drop, when you’ll be able to actually hear the synth hit, that’s really me!”

Clewlow jokes concerning the irony of being a guitarist who “actually enjoys not sounding like [he] performs guitar”, however that doesn’t imply he doesn’t love his instrument. In truth, he’s ridiculously excited by the potential of the guitar, ever fascinated by how versatile it proves to be. And know-how is a large assist.

Prior to now, that got here with hoarding numerous pedals to discover new sounds. “My setup was once a Gibson SG Commonplace, a Peavey 5150, and a loopy pedalboard,” he remembers. “It simply stored rising, yearly. I’d be tap-dancing round on my pedals like loopy.”

Whereas he does often miss the tap-dancing periods, a very wistful air colouring his tone when he remembers his Boss DD-3T (“it made an nearly machine gun stutter, it was a lot enjoyable!”), he doesn’t remorse shifting his set as much as a Fender Telecaster American Extremely and a Kemper Profiler.

The change occurred in the course of the recording of 2015’s The Mindsweep, and it has allowed him to discover way more sonic floor with a fraction of the gear. “All of the pedals had been getting so sophisticated,” he admits. “I’ve nonetheless obtained the pedals in storage, and I’ve obtained a load of guitars, however that arrange does it for me. I prefer to maintain issues minimal, so simple as potential, with the least factors of potential failure as potential.”

Hold It Easy

So simple as it’s, Clewlow insists that the Tele and Kemper combo is a complete killer. A couple of extras typically play their half (“I throw in a DigiTech Whammy for good measure,” he grins), however he’s assured in his setup. It’s all he excursions with, and it’s by no means let him down.

Although, he was sceptical about switching to a profiler at first. “It sounds ridiculous now, however when it first got here out, I used to be sure it wouldn’t be pretty much as good as an actual amp,” he admits. “However once I first profiled my 5150, it was glorious. That’s really nonetheless the principle sound I exploit – I simply love the assault, there’s one thing about it that’s so satisfying.

“However I additionally love the Peavey 6505 profile, and, paired with my Tele, that’s considered one of my favorite sounds. It’s nice having the choice to flick between the Peavey profiles so simply… I’m very happy with my wacky Kemper!”

It’s not the primary time Clewlow’s scepticism has been proved fallacious. Even his swap to a Tele was doubtful. “The primary guitar I ever purchased was a Tele – and I didn’t know something about guitars on the time,” he explains. “Due to that, I simply considered it as a ‘newbie’ guitar. It was by no means on my radar for Enter Shikari. When our producer Dan Weller inspired me to check out a 70s Telecaster in the course of the recording of The Mindsweep, I realised how fallacious I’d been.”

Captivated by the Tele’s “gnarly” tone, Clewlow was immediately hooked. “It simply gave me a lot satisfaction, cranking the sport, going for a neck pickup and taking part in correctly heavy stuff,” he smiles. “It was a type of moments the place I simply realised I wished to only use this on a regular basis. It’s only a actually distinctive sounding guitar. For me, no different guitar has a extra distinctive sound than taking part in a Tele on a neck pickup.”

Group Effort

Throughout the whole thing of Lose Your Self, Clewlow has loads of stand-out moments, from the grandiose trilogy of Spaceship Earth tracks, waltzing between orchestral marvel and bounding riffs, to the gritty riffs of Shipwrecked!. Nonetheless, he’s significantly keen on Useless In The Water, attributable to the way it captures the Shikari household in motion.

The monitor pops in a burst of fan gang vocals recorded at a gig. It’s one more emblem of Shikari’s group, capturing the sound of their Shikari household nestled into the material of the file – and it additionally serves as a enjoyable reminder of the band’s final jaunt round Japan. “We wished a gang vocal simply earlier than the final refrain hits, so we obtained the entire of the Japanese viewers to shout ‘DEAD!’ – however we did it fairly sneakily,” Clewlow explains. “Rou simply made a couple of bizarre noises into the mic to rile folks up, then held the mic out to the gang so everybody would parrot the noise again every time. Considered one of them was ‘DEAD!’”

Although, Clewlow is most pleased with how far the band have come sonically over time. Again within the day, Shikari’s most bold technological feat was strapping torches to the top of their guitars; “it was very ‘futuristic’, like our personal lightsabers… very useful for checking your set listing between songs,” he laughs. These days, they’re continuously treading new floor, grappling with new artificial breakdowns and pushing for brand new sounds.

With such an unpredictable monitor file, Clewlow isn’t certain what’s subsequent. However he’s at all times wanting to get caught in. “I feel it’s good to discover completely different palettes – there’s no such factor as a ‘right guitar half’, for instance,” he explains. “There’s one million issues you would play, one million methods a monitor can sound, and so they’d all be attention-grabbing in their very own methods. It’s dangerous to emphasize over ‘perfection’, as a result of it limits you.”

“You’ll be able to’t please everybody, you simply must please your self and make music you like,” he concludes. “Which sounds just like the equal of me sitting right here saying “reside, snigger, love”… however it’s true!”