Enter Shikari will release their new album The Spark on September 22nd through Play It Again Sam / Ambush Reality worldwide. In support of their forthcoming record, the band has announced an intimate album launch show in Toronto at Hard Luck Bar on Tuesday, October 3rd. Tickets for the show will go on sale to the general public tomorrow, Wednesday, August 23, at 12:00 EST here. Fans will also be able to purchase a limited time offering of pre-order packages of the new album and merchandise, that include tickets to the show at this location.

The Spark is an ambitious, inspiring piece of work that poignantly reflects Enter Shikari’s legendary rise to becoming one of the biggest and most exciting bands the UK has ever seen. Following 4 seminal albums, of which 3 have been Top 10, The Spark is produced by David Kosten (Everything Everything, Bat For Lashes), and is Shikari’s most melodic and personal album to date; a soundtrack to our tumultuous world, a record for everyone who’s filled with frustration but hasn’t lost the capacity for hope.
 
As Shikari stared down the barrel of album five, lead vocalist Rou Reynolds had no idea what to write about, but for the first time going into a record, he knew what the music called for. With The Spark, his intentions were clear: simplicity, melody, songcraft. “Not dampening the variety, but trying to write the best songs instead of trying to be the heaviest, the most technical, the most emotional.”
 
“I wanna prove myself as a songwriter,” Rou continues. He’d always thought maximum volume equaled maximum passion, but an odd revelation last year taught him otherwise. “I’d always been a Bowie fan, but his death made me put time into his back catalogue. I did a Bowie-oke party, bought this cheap software and got a free trial for a week, and I found myself using it home alone. I learnt so much.” Bowie gave Rou the confidence to start singing in a lower register, as did further karaoke experimentations with Sinatra and Johnny Cash. Joy Divison and Depeche Mode also lead him to identify as a singer for the first time in Shikari’s 18-year history, and he toned down the screaming to make his message clearer. “I was always the guitarist that fell into being the frontman,” says Rou. “And there’s all sorts of anxieties to being a frontman. I’d never had any training as a singer, and it’s only in the last few years that I’ve got this new confidence, so I wanted to increase my range – a lot more falsetto, a lot more baritone.” 
 
This newfound emotional and musical clarity set the stage for an unprecedented Enter Shikari album, rounded off by Rou’s stunningly lucid lyrics. “When I realized that a lot of stuff in my personal life was seemingly echoing the turmoil going on the world, socially and politically, a general theme started to emerge of adversity and hope.” A quote from Shakespeare’s As You Like It served as a guiding light: Sweet are the uses of adversity. Rou continues: “Learning, growing, coming through things. It’s such a basic thing for art to talk about – seeing the light at the end of the tunnel – but finding that meaning really helped.”

Check out a video for the album track “Live Outside” below, and pre-order the album at this location.

The Spark was recorded in Northamptonshire, UK in early 2017, produced by David Kosten and Rou Reynolds.

The Spark tracklisting:

“The Spark”
“The Sights”
“Live Outside”
“Take My Country Back”
“Airfield”
“Rabble Rouser”
“Shinrin-yoku”
“Undercover Agents”
“The Revolt Of The Atoms”
“An Ode To Lost Jigsaw Pieces (In Two Movements)”
“The Embers”

“The Spark” video:

In support of the album, Enter Shikari will take to the road for a series of performances in November / December. Supports for all the dates are Lower Than Atlantis and Astroid Boys. Tickets are available at this location.