The Mindsweep

The Mindsweep is the fourth studio album by English rock band Enter Shikari, released on 19 January 2015 through Ambush Reality, PIAS Recordings and Hopeless Records. It was recorded in 2014 with producer Dan Weller.[5]

The Mindsweep
Studio album by
Enter Shikari
Released14 January 2015
Recorded2014
StudioChapel Studios (Lincolnshire, England, UK)
Genre
Length44:42
LabelAmbush Reality, PIAS Recordings
ProducerEnter Shikari, Dan Weller
Enter Shikari chronology
A Flash Flood of Colour
(2012)		 The Mindsweep
(2015)		 The Mindsweep: Hospitalised
(2015)
Singles from The Mindsweep
  1. "The Last Garrison"
    Released: 20 October 2014[3]
  2. "Anaesthetist"
    Released: 5 January 2015[4]

Background

On 26 June 2014 the band performed their new song "Anaesthetist" for the first time and uploaded a video on their YouTube Channel of them doing a practice run. Then they played it all of the dates that they played on Vans Warped Tour.

Production, lyrical themes

When writing lyrics for the album, frontman Rou Reynolds researched the topics he addressed, such as climate change and the global financial crisis, to make sure he was making accurate statements.[6]

Reynolds said the album was as diverse as A Flash Flood of Colour in the sense that every track is different, "cover[ing] all corners of the musical spectrum."[7] When choosing "which of the tracks they've been working on should make it on to [the album]", Enter Shikari found it hard to decide. Therefore, they made a graph where "the vertical axis charted the heaviness of the songs [while] the horizontal one [charted] their location on a scale ranging from 'accessible' to 'experimental'", and "where clusters indicated several songs covering the same territory, only one was allowed to make the cut", so that the album would feature something "from everywhere within [the band's] spectrum of sounds."[6]

Reynolds said "The Last Garrison" is a "celebration of the fact that we’re alive, and the magnitude of luck it took for you to even exist at all."[8] Reynolds said "Torn Apart" talks about the "uselessness of the concept of ‘race’ when it comes to genetics".[9] He added that the song's riff was one of the band's oldest riffs, dating from the period that they wrote "Sorry You're Not a Winner" but "only felt right to develop it now".[9]

The song "Anaesthetist" is about the privatisation of the National Health Service. On the song, frontman Rou Reynolds stated "We seem to have reached a stage of such capitalistic fervour, that we believe it acceptable to punish people for ill health. By charging for healthcare we act as if illness is nothing but one’s own problem, but what is the purpose and advantage of 'civilisation' if it is not helping the most vulnerable within society? The lottery of birth can offer us a wealth of bad luck when it comes to our health and the safety nets are being pulled in as the desire to boost profit overtakes the desire to help people."[10]

Release

The album was announced on 8 October 2014,[11] along with a European and UK tour in support. On 20 October, "The Last Garrison" was played on Zane Lowe's Hottest Record on BBC Radio 1, and was the first single off of the album.[3] The song's official music video was uploaded to Hopeless Records' YouTube channel on 11 November.[12] The video was filmed in a studio on what Reynolds called an "anti-stage": "basically a sunken stage below the level of the rest of the room."[8] He mentioned that all of the chorus parts where done with a "sunset sort of vibe".[8] He added that the lightning used cause the band to be hot, "and then we did the ‘dry’ storm stuff, so we were being bombarded by bits of polystyrene."[8]

Enter Shikari streamed the song "Never Let Go of the Microscope" on their YouTube channel on 26 November,[13] and several weeks later they released the video for "Slipshod", an iTunes-only bonus track, on 15 December through the same channels.[14] The video is a satirical cartoonised skit featuring the members of the band dining at a restaurant and being dissatisfied with their food, as per the lyrics of the song.

On 19 December Enter Shikari announced a headlining North American tour in support of The Mindsweep with Stray From the Path, I the Mighty, Hundredth (3/23-3/31) and A Lot Like Birds (4/01-4/28). To celebrate the release of the album, the band opened a pop up shop in Camden.[15] On 5 January 2015, "Anaesthetist" was released as the second single taken from the album, accompanied with a music video. On 12 January, the full album was streamed online several days before its intended release date.[16] Later on throughout the album's release cycle, "Torn Apart" was released as a promotional single on 8 June 2015.[17] The song later received its own music video.

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic89/100[18]
Review scores
SourceRating
Alternative Press[19]
Kerrang![20]
NME[21]
Q[22]

The album received acclaim from music critics: on Metacritic, a review aggregator site, the album received a score of 89/100 (indicating "universal acclaim") based on 6 reviews. The album received maximum ratings from Alternative Press and Kerrang![18] The latter called The Mindsweep the band's "most diverse album to date", contrasting the "punk thrash" of "There's a Price on Your Head" with "Dear Future Historians...", which they described as a "Radiohead-esque piano ballad". They also compared the style of "Anaesthetist" to that of the Prodigy.[6] The album was included at number 4 on Rock Sound's top 50 releases of 2015 list.[23]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Roughton "Rou" Reynolds; all music is composed by Enter Shikari.

No.TitleLength
1."The Appeal & the Mindsweep I"4:50
2."The One True Colour"3:53
3."Anaesthetist"2:55
4."The Last Garrison"3:42
5."Never Let Go of the Microscope"4:02
6."Myopia"4:10
7."Torn Apart"3:54
8."Interlude"0:56
9."The Bank of England"3:23
10."There's a Price on Your Head"2:49
11."Dear Future Historians..."6:28
12."The Appeal & the Mindsweep II"3:40
iTunes bonus track
No.TitleLength
13."Slipshod"2:12
Japanese bonus tracks[24]
No.TitleLength
13."Slipshod"2:12
14."The Paddington Frisk"1:16
15."Rat Race"3:17
16."Radiate"4:32
"Deluxe CD+DVD Edition" bonus DVD
"Live at A2 St. Petersburg, Russia - Bootleg Series Volume 6"
No.TitleLength
1."Enter Shikari" 
2."The Paddington Frisk" 
3."Sssnakepit" 
4."Destabilise" 
5."Radiate" 
6."Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" 
7."Sorry You're Not a Winner" 
8."Arguing with Thermometers" 
9."Juggernauts" 
10."Constellations"
"Live at Reading Festival, UK 2014"
 
11."Solidarity" 
12."Zzzonked" 
13."2014 Intro" 
14."Solidarity" 
15."The Paddington Frisk" 
16."Destabilise" 
17."Radiate" 
18."Sorry You're Not a Winner" 
19."Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" 
20."Anaesthetist" 
21."Arguing with Thermometers" 
22."Sssnakepit" 
"Deluxe LP+CD+DVD Edition" bonus DVD
"Live at Woodstock, Poland 2013"
No.TitleLength
1."System..." 
2."...Meltdown" 
3."Sorry, You're Not a Winner" 
4."Destabilise" 
5."Radiate" 
6."Sssnakepit" 
7."Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" 
8."Juggernauts" 
9."Constellations" 
10."Quelle Surprise" 
11."The Paddington Frisk" 
12."Motherstep 2.0/Mothership" 
13."Zzzonked"
"Live at Download Festival, UK 2013"
 
14."System..." 
15."...Meltdown" 
16."Sorry, You're Not a Winner" 
17."Destabilise" 
18."Radiate" 
19."Sssnakepit" 
20."Juggernauts" 
21."Gandhi Mate, Gandhi" 
22."The Paddington Frisk" 
23."Motherstep 2.0/Mothership" 
24."Arguing with Thermometers" 
25."Zzzonked" 

Personnel
Enter Shikari
  • Roughton "Rou" Reynolds – vocals, keys, piano, electronics, trumpet, orchestral arrangements, lyrics, guitars
  • Liam "Rory" Clewlow – guitars, vocals
  • Chris Batten – bass, co-vocals, keys
  • Rob Rolfe – drums, percussion, vocals
Additional musicians
  • Paul Sartin – violin on "The One True Colour", "Torn Apart", "There's a Price on Your Head", "Dear Future Historians..." and "The Appeal & the Mindsweep II"; oboe on "Dear Future Historians..."
  • Beth Porter – cello on "The One True Colour", "Torn Apart", "There's a Price on Your Head", "Dear Future Historians..." and "The Appeal & the Mindsweep II"
  • Jackie Oates – violin on "The One True Colour", "Torn Apart", "There's a Price on Your Head", "Dear Future Historians..." and "The Appeal & the Mindsweep II"
  • Alex Harman, Ashley King (of St Albans), Bill Ransom, Chris Graham, Daniel Griffin, Fran Padormo, Ian Drayner, Jamie Littler, Louis Springfield, Nathan Killham, Nick 'Balls' Uperton, Sam Baker, Sam Newham, Simon Hofmeister, Vivien Vincze, William Tallis – gang vocals
  • Alban Reynolds – trombone on "Torn Apart", "Interlude", "Dear Future Historians..." and "The Appeal & the Mindsweep II"
Production
  • Dan Weller and Enter Shikari – production
  • Tim Morris – studio engineer, additional production on "The Last Garrison"
  • Jeremy Wheatley (for 365 Artists) – mixing
  • Stuart Hawkes (at Metropolis Group, London) – mastering
  • Pip Newby - A&R
  • Luke Insect Studio – art direction

Charts
Chart (2015) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[25] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 68
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 125
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[28] 26
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[29] 142
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[30] 66
UK Albums (OCC)[31] 6
UK Independent Albums (OCC)[32] 1
UK Rock & Metal Albums (OCC)[33] 2
US Billboard 200[34] 166
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[35] 12
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[36] 16
US Top Hard Rock Albums (Billboard)[37] 5
gollark: All the exams.
gollark: Or... would have, but it was cancelled.
gollark: We get them in all our maths exams except one of the further maths papers.
gollark: When a company gets a monopoly or near-monopoly of some service, they can start overcharging horribly.
gollark: Computers?

References

Citations

  1. "Review: Enter Shikari – 'The Mindsweep'". NBHAP. Retrieved 29 October 2015.
  2. Bell, Mitchell (14 January 2015). "Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep (Album Review)". Vulture Hound Magazine. Retrieved 31 August 2015. Having finely tuned their set to become one of the best live British alternative-rock bands today, it began to feel like it was all or nothing for [Enter Shikari's] fourth release, The Mindsweep.
  3. "Enter Shikari - "The Last Garrison" World Exclusive". Enter Shikari. 20 October 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  4. "Anaesthesist". Enter Shikari. 5 January 2015. Archived from the original on 6 January 2015. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  5. Wright, Lisa (8 October 2014). "NME News Enter Shikari announce new album 'The Mindsweep'". NME. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  6. Sutherland 2015, pp. 22–25
  7. McMahon ed. 2015 (1550), p. 42
  8. McMahon ed. 2015 (1563), p. 20
  9. McMahon ed. 2015 (1575), p. 12
  10. "ENTER SHIKARI'S 'ANAESTHETIST'". Rock Sound. Retrieved 11 October 2017.
  11. Crane, Matt (8 October 2014). "Enter Shikari announce new album, 'The Mindsweep'". Alternative Press. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
  12. "Enter Shikari - The Last Garrison (Official Music Video)". YouTube. Retrieved November 15, 2014.
  13. "Never Let Go of the Microscope". Entershikari.com. 26 November 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
  14. "Slipshod (Official Video)". Entershikari.com. 15 December 2014. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 15 December 2014.
  15. "Enter Shikari Unveil London Pop-Up Shop - Kerrang!". Kerrang!. Retrieved 2015-11-20.
  16. "Timeline Photo". Enter Shikari. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 12 January 2015.
  17. Laura Johnson. "Enter Shikari Share Video For New Single Torn Apart". Stereoboard.com.
  18. Metacritic (April 16, 2013). "Critic Reviews for The Mindsweep". CBS Interactive. Retrieved April 16, 2013.
  19. Alternative Press 2015, p. 89
  20. McMahon 2015 (1549), p. 52
  21. Pearlman, Mischa (January 14, 2015). "The Mindsweep - Enter Shikari". New Musical Express. Retrieved January 14, 2015.
  22. Q 2015, p. 108
  23. Bird ed. 2016, p. 29
  24. "ザ・マインドスウィープ - エンター・シカリ". Oricon. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  25. "Australiancharts.com – Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  26. "Ultratop.be – Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  27. "Ultratop.be – Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  28. "Dutchcharts.nl – Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  29. "ザ・マインドスウィープ – エンター・シカリ" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  30. "Swisscharts.com – Enter Shikari – The Mindsweep". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  31. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  32. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  33. "Official Rock & Metal Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  34. "Enter Shikari Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  35. "Enter Shikari - Chart history". Billboard. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  36. "Enter Shikari Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  37. "Enter Shikari Chart History (Top Hard Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 8 February 2015.

Sources

  • Bird, Ryan, ed. (January 2016). "Top 50 Releases of the Year". Rock Sound. No. 208. London: Freeway Press Inc. ISSN 1465-0185.
  • McMahon, James (3 January 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Reviews". Kerrang!. No. 1549. London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • McMahon, James, ed. (7 January 2015). "The 2015 Hotlist: Enter Shikari". Kerrang!. No. 1550. London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • McMahon, James, ed. (11 April 2015). "Rock 100: Surviving the Storm!". Kerrang!. No. 1563. London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • McMahon, James, ed. (4 July 2015). "The Official Kerrang! Rock Chart". Kerrang!. No. 1575. London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • Sutherland, Mark (14 January 2015). McMahon, James (ed.). "Enter Shikari – Food for Thought". Kerrang!. No. 1551. London: Bauer Media Group. ISSN 0262-6624.
  • "Reviews". Alternative Press. Cleveland: Alternative Press Magazine, Inc. February 2015. ISSN 1065-1667.
  • "Reviews". Q. London: Bauer Media Group. February 2015. ISSN 0955-4955.
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