Review Summary: The new indie frontrunners
British indie rock music has suffered from quite a large degree of stagnation in the last 15 years. There have been countless overhyped bands declared as the next big thing who have not managed to deliver upon their potential further than releasing a decent debut album and then slowly fading into obscurity. So it's always welcome to see some exceptions.
Everything Everything from Manchester entered the scene in 2007 and released their debut Man Alive in 2010 to a decent acclaim. It was a bizarre combination of catchy synth led melodies with unique high pitched vocals and quirky but surprisingly dark lyricism. The second album Arc continued in that direction, but the material seemed way less memorable apart from the singles. It seemed like the band was running out of ideas and would inevitably fall into irrelevance, but then their third album Get to Heaven came out. While it did not change their formula significantly, the songwriting and lyrics were bolder and stronger than ever, so much that the band even earned the label of progressive pop.
So how does the band's new album stand compared to their breakout record? The album's first single "Can't Do" tries to repeat the success of "Distant Past", the lead single from previous album. We got a very enjoyable electro pop track here and before the song ends its chorus "Help me! I can't do the thing you want, can't do the thing you want" gets stuck in your head. The second single, the title track which deals with divide and hatred in society is a real slow burner, starting with a mellow piano melody it leads to a powerful climax despite getting a bit too repetitive (the chorus, "Lord, I see a fever dream before me now" is repeated 33 times in the song). The third single "Desire" seems like the weakest in comparison, while still enjoyable the and lyrical message is rather simple.
Other interesting tracks include the opener "Night of the Long Knives", whose title references Hitler's purge of his political opponents, the song's main message is about how society is getting desensitised to violence and extremism. "Big Game" is a fairly standard attack on Donald Trump and musically the least memorable track. "Run the Numbers" deals with Brexit and current state of politics where people try to appeal to emotions rather than facts.
And then there is "Ivory Tower", a strong contender for the catchiest song of the year with its brilliant extremely infectious chorus. The lyrics cleverly talk about the internet debates and how people are disconnected from reality and live in their aforementioned ivory tower. The singer even pulls off a line "Let me see you with the Caps Lock on".
But the album also contains some low key numbers, apart from the title track there are "Good Shot, Good Soldier", which questions God, "Put Me Together" which talks about social differences and the closer "White Whale", a clear reference to Moby Dick.
If there is one thing that might put off many people about the band, it would be the vocals, Jonathan Higgs and his common use of falsetto is definitely acquired taste, but it makes the band's sound more distinct.
The lyrics are definitely the album's strongest point, while they are sometimes quirky or slightly humorous on first sight, they are actually quite dark and sometimes even pessimistic. The general theme of the album is fear and divide between people, ignorance of politicians and masses and how history repeats itself.
But the band is also strong and eclectic musically, the band blends various influences and manages to combine guitars and electronics flawlessly. The obvious comparisons would be Radiohead, or from more recent bands, Wild Beasts and Alt-J. However, Everything Everything manage to be both more musically and lyrically mature.
Ultimately, while not as immediate as their previous hit album, A Fever Dream passes with 4 stars because it's a very consistent album that grows stronger with each listen and whose message is more relevant now than ever.
