Everything Everything a few years ago, really caught me off guard. Around the time of their 2013 album "Arc", I thought they just had such an incredibly vast and colorful sound. Now, this wasn't a perfect album, but there was so much to absolutely love about it. The performances were quirky and strange, the production was massive, and instrumentally so much of this was vibrant and so damn progressive thinking for Pop music. Now, I don't know what happened to them between then and the release of 2015's "Get To Heaven", but WOW. This album was absolutely incredible from start to finish. The production was so much more vibrant and interesting, the hooks were catchier, and Everything Everything just seemed so fearless. This album was constantly blending genres, and I loved every last second of it. Now, these new singles have been VERY different for Everything Everything. They've been a little less animated and colorful, but easily just as progressive and genre bending. Let's talk about this!
This album starts off with “Night of the Long Knives”. It’s a very sharp intro, with a seriously nice amount of tension. As far as the band’s sound goes, it’s a little less animated than I would have liked to have heard. But it’s still the very progressive, forward thinking sound that I obsessed over years ago. Now, let’s talk about these instrumentals. I love just how tense and almost robotic they are. As far as the instrumentals go, there’s actually nothing seriously bad going on here at all. When the synths burst in just in time for the chorus, however, it’s a seriously welcomed and triumphant return. But the real star here continues to be the vocals and lyrics. I actually would go as far as to say these vocals feel like they may be even more abstract and interesting than we’ve heard on the last album. And not for nothing, I continue to love Everything Everything’s very left field approach to writing lyrics. Altogether, “Night of the Long Knives” is a totally flooring and eye opening intro to this album. It’s urgent, it’s big sounding, and it’s seriously epic. “Can’t Do” is up next, and as far as a sense of urgency goes, I’ve never heard Everything Everything in this capacity. This one is a little more animated and vibrant, and I do really dig a lot of the lyrics here as well. Everything Everything continues to be so damn progressive and forward thinking as far as a Pop sound goes. There’s just enough of an off kilter dance groove on this chorus, however, to make tracks like this fun and not completely out there. “Can’t Do” is explosive, fun, and but continues to be highly experimental. Everything Everything remains one 0f the most exciting bands in Indie Pop. Now, I certainly get what the band was going for with “Desire”. But I’ll be honest, this one doesn’t nearly hit me as hard. I think lyrically this is one of the more intelligent and easy to comprehend tracks I’ve ever heard from the band, which is certainly nice. Also, I can’t deny just how explosive the chorus is here. But come on, where’s the fun here? This one plugs along so sluggishly that it’s pretty hard to really appreciate it or get caught up in anything. I do totally get what some may dig about “Desire” though. And as far as having the usual elements of an Everything Everything track, they’re all here. But for my liking, I love to hear Everything Everything a little more unhinged. It’s still a decent tune though. “Big Game” on the other hand is from start to finish a completely different animal for Everything Everything. This is easily the slowest and most patient testing tunes I’ve ever heard from these guys. To be honest, though, I really don’t mind it. It’s actually pretty interesting to hear Everything Everything in an environment that isn’t hectic and explosive. And while no, this track isn’t exactly the most memorable here, I commend Everything Everything for trying a little something different. Not to mention, that sung hook is actually really solid, and when that funky bass groove pops in nothing but good things happen.
“Good Shot, Good Soldier” right off the bat, however, is seriously ear grabbing. I love the seriously funky synths as well as the very sweet atmosphere on this one. The melodies on “Good Shot, Good Solider” are just so funky and memorable, and just encompass everything I love about this band. As far as a pop tune goes, this one breaks all the rules, between tough to decipher lyrics and beats that you can barely put your finger on. But I’ll be damned if it doesn’t completely stick with you. Plus, I’m impressed on this one with how once again they can be more patient and work with a longer and slower tune and make it just as interesting. Not to mention, vocally this has a whole lot of my favorite moments of the album. “Good Shot, Good Soldier” ends up being seriously hypnotic, especially with the constantly repeated “Maybe the worst is over” lyric. Then we have “Run The Numbers”, and for fans of older Everything Everything, this is this is the track for you. This is easily the most eclectic and interesting track here by far. It has all the head scratching lyrics, colorful instrumentals, and easily the most explosive chorus of the album. Tracks like “Run The Numbers” excite me so much for the future of this band and this genre. Not to mention, I love just how heavy this track is as well, especially after all of the slower tunes on this album. It’s colorful, it’s gigantic, you’ve gotta hear this one. “Put Me Together” on the other hand goes right back to bring on the slower side of things. But to be honest, this track rubs me the wrong way. I do like the very serene atmosphere of this one, which is something I feel like these guys could adapt to and master eventually. But in this instance, it really sort of clashes with the vocals and ends up making a sort of sappy tune that I wasn’t expecting to hear. Now, I’m all for a band showing a little emotion, but I just don’t feel like this is the way to do it for Everything Everything. It’s just so boring, and I can’t get around just how much these vocals clash. Then we have the jam that pops in at the end of the track. It’s certainly exciting and all, but it doesn’t last and seriously doesn’t go anywhere. Not to mention, the entire last two minutes of this track just don’t go anywhere. At the very least, “A Fever Dream” sort of brings in the experimental vibe that was certainly missing from the last track. But man, I have to ask, what is up with all of these very slow and somber tunes. What made me enjoy so much of the band’s early material is just how exciting and left field and colorful it was. I do actually enjoy when this track picks up, however. As far as a slower tune on this album goes, the pacing on “A Fever Dream” is fantastic and everything on this one is actually really well done. Plus the very synthetic, electronic elements to this one are a really nice touch. I feel like when this one does pick up, however, it’s actually really well done. But of course, it takes way too long to get there. But you have the patience, this tune is actually seriously epic. For example, some of those piano notes in the last two minutes are seriously epic, and that entire last minute and a half is just so out there that I can’t say no.
Everything Everything, however, are far from done. Out of nowhere, we get “Ivory Tower”, which is literally what I’ve wanted to hear from Everything Everything this entire album. It’s right back to the sort of abrasive, yet catchy forward thinking pop. It’s seriously exciting, however, and I just love how hearing the band among these much more lavish and upbeat instrumentals. The real sense of urgency is back in such a big way, and the vocals on this one are the sort of bizarre performance I love to hear from Everything Everything. This track is just ridiculous from start to finish. It’s bizarre, it’s left field, it’s everything I wanted to hear from this band. Not to mention, some of the breakdowns towards the finale are ridiculously intense. Then we have “New Deep”, which is honestly really hard to place. Once again I feel like these very lavish and sweet instrumentals are certainly pulled off nicely. To be honest, I really wouldn’t have minded if this was a completely instrumental track. it ends up being just sort of a sweet, straightforward interlude. The harmonies are nice, and the sense of dread underlying everything is really nice as well. My only real issue with “New Deep” is that I wish it was longer and more complete. Not so shockingly, this album ends off with another slow & emotional performance, “White Whale”. To be honest, I’m probably not giving these slower tunes enough credit, because a lot of them certainly aren’t bad. I actually really dig a whole lot of the vocals on these slow burners, and the atmospheres that they’ve been creating are really sweet. Plus, some of the more abrasive production here is actually a really nice touch and gives this just enough of an intense feeling. As far as a slow burner goes, this one is actually really stunning and almost comes off as some finale to some great rock opera. “White Whale” is a seriously beautiful way to finish this album off.
Rating: 7.9/10
Give A Listen To: “Night of the Long Knives”, “Can’t Do”, “Run The Numbers”, “Ivory Tower”
Genre: Indie Pop / Progressive Pop / Psychedelic Pop
If you dig this, you may like : Alt J- “This Is All Yours”, Animal Collective - “Merriwether Post Pavillion”, Everything Everything - “Get To Heaven”
Overall Thoughts: While slightly less adventurous and colorful than their previous work, Everything Everything show that they are still one f the most Progressive and Wild bands in Indie Pop. This album overall is really solid, with plenty of upbeat and exciting moments and much more toned down tracks as well. Now, some of these slower tunes don't hit me nearly as hard as they could, I still think Everything Everything are onto something with this much more theatrical sound.
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