''The Spark'' is the fifth studio album by English

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Enter Shikari Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drum ...

, released on 22 September 2017 through

Ambush Reality Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drum ...

and

PIAS Recordings PIAS Recordings (formerly Play It Again Sam) is a Belgian record label founded in 1983 by Kenny Gates and Michel Lambot. Play It Again Sam expanded along with other European independent labels in the early 1980s. Play It Again Sam's prominent ea ...

. It was recorded in Northamptonshire in early 2017.

Background and production

Following world events in 2016, including

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC or ...

and the election of

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

, leadman

Rou Reynolds Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and dr ...

announced on Twitter that he had been suffering from

general anxiety disorder Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is a mental and behavioral disorder, specifically an anxiety disorder characterized by excessive, uncontrollable and often irrational worry about events or activities. Worry often interferes with daily functio ...

. He declared his frustration and newfound inspiration to write what he intended to be the band's most important work. Recording for ''The Spark'' took place at Angelio Studios and Muttley Ranch in England with

David Kosten Faultline is the musical alter ego of producer and artist David Kosten. Working under the name Faultline, Kosten produced the largely instrumental debut ''Closer, Colder'' and the follow up ''Your Love Means Everything'', which featured guest ...

and Reynolds acting as producers. Sessions were recorded by Kosten and Tim Morris. Additional recording was done by Reynolds at Radiate Studios with assistance from Luke Gibbs. Koston provided additional keyboards and programming to the tracks. In addition, Will Harvey and Augusta Harris contributed violin and cello, respectively. Koston mixed the album, which was mastered for CD and digital download by

Bob Ludwig Robert C. Ludwig (born c. 1945) is an American mastering engineer. He has mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists including Led Zeppelin, Lou Reed, Qu ...

at Gateway Mastering and for vinyl by Stuart Hawken at Metropolis.

Release

On 31 July 2017, the band released a music video for the first single "Live Outside". On 13 September 2017, the second single and the music video for "Rabble Rouser" was released. The album was released on 22 September 2017 through Ambush Reality and

. In November and December 2017, the band will support the release of the album with an arena tour of the UK and mainland Europe.

Critical reception

''The Spark'' was met with positive reviews from critics. Metacritic gave the album an aggregated score of 74/100, indicating "generally favorable reviews", based on 10 reviews. Francesca Gosling writing for

The Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

gave The Spark a positive score of 8/10, summarising that "Those hoping for a return to the earlier sound may be disappointed, but Enter Shikari's unflinching desire to evolve with every release is something very exciting indeed." ''The Spark'' won the Best Album award at the 2018

Kerrang! Awards The Kerrang! Awards are an annual music awards show in the United Kingdom, founded by the music magazine ''Kerrang!'' and focusing primarily on rock music. The annual awards features performances by prominent artists, and some of the awards of mo ...

Track listing

All lyrics by Rou Reynolds. All music by Enter Shikari.

Personnel

Personnel per booklet. Enter Shikari *

– lead vocals, keyboards, programming, piano, guitar, trumpet *

Rory Clewlow Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drum ...

– lead guitar, vocals,

mbira Mbira ( ) are a family of musical instruments, traditional to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. They consist of a wooden board (often fitted with a resonator) with attached staggered metal tines, played by holding the instrument in the hands and p ...

Chris Batten Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drum ...

– bass, vocals, organ *

Rob Rolfe Enter Shikari (stylised as enter: shikari and occasionally as ΣΠΤΣ℞ SΗΦΚ∆℞Φ) are a British rock band formed in St Albans, Hertfordshire, England in 1999 by bassist Chris Batten, lead vocalist and keyboardist Rou Reynolds, and drum ...

– drums, percussion Additional musicians *

– additional keyboards, programming * Will Harvey – violin * Augusta Harris – cello * Julz Baldwin, Eman Kwenortey, Nathan Killham, Jamie Whymark, Alex Cribbs, Jack Goodwin, Lee Jeffrey, Matt Pondell, Arun Chamba, William Tallis, Matt Knowles, Daniel Griffin, Nathan Harlow, Adam Holdsworth, Zac Houili, George Rockett, Ben Gibson, Patrick O'Hanlon, Clementyne Lavender, Danny Price, Jonathan Kogan, Leo Taylor, Hollie Robinson, Zoe London, Lee Burgess, Ian Drayner, James Power, Corinne Cumming, Fraser Woodhouse, Pip Newby – gang vocals Production * David Kosten – producer, mixing, recording * Rou Reynolds – producer, additional recording, art direction * Tim Morris – recording * Luke Gibbs – studio assistant *

– mastering (CD/digital) * Stuart Hawkes – mastering (vinyl) * Richard Littler – design, layout, photo edits * Ian Johnsen – art direction * Pip Newby - A&R * Jennifer McCord – band photo * Modo – artwork ("machine") * Agata Wolanska – object photos

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spark 2017 albums Ambush Reality albums Enter Shikari albums PIAS Recordings albums