Everything Everything, a quirky four piece from Manchester have flown under the radar somewhat within the indie scene. Their unique falsettos and ravenous use of a variety of genres, merge within Get to Heaven. What results is a conceptual record that displays courage in tackling progressive subject matter, without the sacrifice of the sound fans have come to love.
This album culminates what the band does best, a refreshing wave of complex sounds and spoken word-like lyrics that stop a listener in their tracks. The album certainly doesn’t lack variety, recognisable tracks ‘Distant Past’ and ‘Spring/Sun/Winter/Dread’ capture bubbliness with undertones of a more serious distinction than most danceable indie tracks. Heavy hitters ‘No Reptiles’ and opener ‘To the Blade’ create a sense of determination whilst revelling in a nihilistic nature leaving interpretation to listeners who are left with ideologies questioned.
The album in this way is determined a lot by the listener, turning off and enjoying the sound can leave you feeling uplifted, but analysing the more complexities scattered throughout the run time helps create a rather existential ponderance. An album that can give you different things at different times is hard to curate as masterfully as it is done here.
While lead singer Jonathan Higgs was inspired by topics of extremism, this is not blatantly obvious when listening, and most songs carefully tread the line between metaphor and reality, making it accessible to all whilst still maintaining the band’s integrity to openly discuss taboo subjects; that are often left untouched by mainstream artists. In this way the album is one that doesn’t have direct comparisons, not only pushing the boundaries musically but also tone, a welcome deviation from other music that falls into this genre and a massively distinctive album for the history books.
Jessica McCarrick 