Hertfordshire four-piece Enter Shikari have been upending post-hardcore cliches since the days of MySpace, when they threw nu-rave, punk and pop in alongside throaty growls and discordant riffs. And while being unsigned is now the preferred route for many an emerging act, their decision to stay off the majors for several years seemed an act of rebellion in keeping with their indefinable sound. The Spark continues the shift that their 2015 album The Mindsweep – with its melodic edge and references to a nation in turmoil – ushered in, as they file down their hard edges some more. That means Everything Everything-style art-pop that rhymes Rousseau with Cicero (The Sights), twee electronica with controlled guitar crescendos (Live Outside) and canny rap experimentation (Rabble Rouser), while still tackling societal ills and personal crises (“In my chest there’s a thundering pain / it’s like God’s in there having a migraine”, sings frontman Rou Reynolds on An Ode to Lost Jigsaw Pieces, sounding genuinely pained). While still unpredictable, this is Shikari’s most mainstream, self-contained record to date. Some will appreciate its ambition, others will balk at its commercial feel, but it marks a real and definite evolution nonetheless.
