Enter Shikari today return with brand new single, the resolute and optimistic HIGHER GROUND. A totally unexpected release with no prior warning, it’s their first offering of new music since their surprise album release in April, HIGHER GROUND can be heard below.
Frontman Rou has said of the new track
"Our music has often been about zooming out. Looking at the bigger picture on things gives us perspective, clarity, and often a strange calm in today’s relentless and difficult times. HIGHER GROUND is about just how pivotal taking the broad perspective is. Whether in our personal lives or when looking at the biggest problems that humanity faces, we often gain clarity and see connections that were previously hidden when we find time to zoom out. The track was written during the recording sessions for Lose Your Self but felt like its own entity so was parked and finished off slowly over spring and summer this year.”
The band recently announced that they will play two intimate shows later this month as a warm up to their November arena tour. These shows will also be the first since they announced their indefinite hiatus. The four-piece took to Instagram and shared this statement regarding the future of Enter Shikari, just last week.
Enter Shikari are gearing up for their biggest UK and EU headline arena tour, in November. The EU dates kick off on 3rd November at the Sporthalle in Hamburg, and include the band’s biggest ever German headline show. They will then begin the UK leg of the tour in Nottingham at the Motorpoint Arena on 13th November. They will be joined by Holding Absence and The Callous Daoboys as support for both the EU and UK leg. All dates, information and tickets for all live dates can be found here.
With zero announcements or teasers, Enter Shikari surprise released their new album in April this year. Lose Your Self (released via So Recordings) spans 12 tracks exploring themes of desolation, futility and complete despair at the state of the world, but with glimmers of hopefulness and optimism threaded throughout. Whilst the likes of major pop stars including Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber who have famously released albums out of the blue over the years, Enter Shikari managed to not only release Lose Your Self digitally, but also physically, unlike their predecessors. Listen to the album here.
Lose Your Self was preceded by the band's 2023 album A Kiss For The Whole World, which delivered their first ever UK No.1 album in the Official Charts, where they had previously scored 6 Top 10 albums! The 2024 tour of the same name included their raucous debut Wembley Arena show. Last year, Enter Shikari released Live At Wembley, making the full live show available on streaming services, and on a limited run of vinyl available at only four record stores worldwide. Fans can watch the full set here, which features footage from the first FPV (first-person view) drone to be flown live at Wembley Arena!
During their remarkable and celebrated career, Enter Shikari have received several accolades in the form of gongs from NME, Kerrang!, Rock Sound, Heavy Music Awards and more. They have played a whopping 3000+ live shows around the world including three headline arena tours in the UK, supported the likes of The Prodigy and Linkin Park and played festivals such as Glastonbury, Reading & Leeds, Download and Slam Dunk where they also headlined in 2023 and Warped Tour, Riot Fest and Sonic Temple in the US.
Photo credit: Kate Hook