Everything Everything - Re-Animator (Album Review)

The best part of 15 years into their career, Everything Everything remain an anomaly. It’s hard to think of too many other bands in the wider indie-rock sphere who are so at ease with being themselves, whether that means disappearing down a psychedelic wormhole or serving up straight up pop songs without shedding their skin.

On ‘Re-Animator’ they seek out a level of melodic cogency and songwriting simplicity that hasn’t always been at the top of their list of priorities. Of course, this being Everything Everything, their latest experiment still arrives wrapped in skyscraping instrumental textures and the idiosyncratic wonder of Jonathan Higgs’ voice.​

The opener, Lost Powers, ably sets the table as Higgs weaves a lilting hook around guitarist Alex Robertshaw’s surprisingly bullish guitar stabs.

It has some of the spiralling, maximalist intent that made ‘Get to Heaven’ so immediate, but it’s more measured in its execution. Robertshaw sketches a template for his playing throughout, with his interjections always adding impetus or roughing up smooth edges.

On It Was Monstering, Higgs gets lost in a drawn out, almost distressing chorus as the band jogs along in his wake. There is increasingly something of David Byrne in his performances, where pop smarts are only part of the story. He has the capacity to do strange things with songs that could fit neatly into a box in the hands of others.

When they do arrive, the Technicolor wigouts feel well earned—the closing moments of Arch Enemy are an off-kilter joy as Robertshaw’s jagged riffage is answered by a wall of synths and crashing noise. Everything Everything recorded ‘Re-Animator’ quickly, in a matter of weeks, but the reduced timeframe has not dampened their ability to make fun, outrageous decisions. They couldn’t be anyone else if they tried.

Everything Everything Upcoming Tour Dates are as follows:

Fri March 19 2021 - NOTTINGHAM Rock City
Sat March 20 2021 - BIRMINGHAM O2 Academy Birmingham
Mon March 22 2021 - NORWICH Norwich Nick Rayns LCR UEA
Tue March 23 2021 - LIVERPOOL O2 Academy Liverpool
Thu March 25 2021 - MANCHESTER Manchester Academy
Fri March 26 2021 - GLASGOW SWG3
Sat March 27 2021 - NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE O2 Academy Newcastle
Mon March 29 2021 - LEEDS O2 Academy Leeds
Tue March 30 2021 - BRISTOL O2 Academy Bristol
Thu April 01 2021 - LONDON Roundhouse
Sat April 03 2021 - BRIGHTON Brighton Dome
Mon April 05 2021 - DUBLIN Olympia Theatre

Click here to compare & buy Everything Everything Tickets at Stereoboard.com.

More Reviews from Huw Baines

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Matt Berninger - Serpentine Prison

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Touché Amoré - Lament

Bob Mould - Blue Hearts

Róisín Murphy - Róisín Machine

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