Album Of The Week: Everything Everything 'Get To Heaven'
- Details
- Written by Velvet Winter
You might remember Everything Everything from that terrible Cough Cough they gave you back in 2012. Well the boys are back and ready to be critically acclaimed once more with their third album Get To Heaven. Dense beats and intricate lyrics fly thick and fast in this stella offering from British quartet.
Everything Everything’s reputation as socially conscious pop merchants proceeds them. Get To Heaven continues this tradition with tracks that will simultaneously want to make you shimmy your shoulders and rethink your entire existence. What a talent.
They come flying out the gate with To The Blade a slow build ushered in with lead singer Jonothan Higg’s unmistakeable vocals. It hits hard with some sharp staccatos that force your heart rate up whether you like it or not. Higg’s trademark falsetto comes into to play around the second verse which only adds to the multiples layers already playing with the track. It’s a edgy tune with violent lyrics but somehow you’ll still find it stuck in your head for days.
First single Distant Past brings in Everything Everything’s juxtaposition of Presets style electronica with Dizzee Rascal style spit rapping. It’s a unique track that would be very welcome on any dancefloor deemed cool enough to spin it.
Album highlight comes in the form of title track Get To Heaven. A serious sufferer from Pumped Up Kicks syndrome (depressing lyrics disguised with a jaunty tune) Get To Heaven will have you shimmying your shoulders on to chorus falsettos on first listen. Delve a little deeper and you’ll find the lyrics are a little more concerning. Somewhere in-between a religious critique and a disco good time Higg’s strained chorus vocals become so much more impactful once you unpack the meaning behind the frantic lyrics.
Continuing on the religious route is The Wheel (Is Turning Now) a track that could slip by if you don’t concentrate hard enough but what it lacks in fancy gimmicks it makes up for in neuance. Beginning with an almost hymn like hum before hitting us with some sparkling pop rock. After luring you into a false sense of security the track takes a turn descending into a dark and brooding landscape reminiscent of the sinister side of Radiohead’s Hail To The Thief. At over five minutes long it makes the most of the running time, taking the listener (that’s you) on a desolate underworld tour.
If existential crisis is what you want then that’s what you’ll get when you listen to Spring/Summer/Winter/Dread…in the best way possible. A spacey track that really highlights Higg’s vocal control the whole thing will make you sway softly while exclaiming that you too never want to get older. Its frantic and has a wicked guitar solo that licks the outro tipping the scales from introspective sermon to pop mastery.
‘Get To Heaven’ is a true wolf in sheep’s clothing with Everything Everything hiding deep messages in their poppy tunes like new age parents hide veggies in cake mix. You come out the other side feeling like you’ve learnt something but also like you have a wicked hectic sugar buzz. And they say you can’t have the best of both worlds.
8.5/10
