Release Date: 10th April 2026
When it comes to swinging big, Enter Shikari have never been ones to shy away. They pioneered the electronicore genre in the noughties, survived a brief bottling at an early Download Festival set and released an entire album of dance remixes from their fourth record, The Mindsweep.
Their latest album, Lose Your Self, dropped as a surprise to everyone earlier this month and had fans scrambling to see what the four-piece had been cooking up behind the scenes.
Despite releasing their chart-topping album, A Kiss for the Whole World, less than two years ago, the St Albans lads clearly couldn’t wait any longer to vent their latest gripes. However, it’s hardly a shock, given the state of the world right now, that this famously outspoken band has a lot to say. And, let’s face it, they’re angry.
But shouldn’t we all be? From international wars to divisive political rhetoric and unchecked corruption, there’s plenty to be mad about, and Enter Shikari have a good stab at covering it all.
The album kicks off with a gut-punch of an opener in ‘LOSE YOUR SELF’. In just over four minutes, singer Rou Reynolds and his bandmates throw everything at us, including old-school trance synths, a hooky chorus and hard-hitting lyrics. It makes for an undeniably strong introduction.
It’s a fair assumption that on top of wanting to give fans the full package instead of drip feeding singles, the decision to drop an album out of nowhere is because the band felt it needed to be heard, like, now. That’s certainly the vibe with ‘Dead in the Water’, a song that might be too on-the-nose for some, spelling out the reality of refugees crossing the English Channel amongst today’s anti-immigration vitriol. Still, fans of Shikari will know that subtlety has never been their strong suit and their refreshing, if sometimes brutal, honesty has become part of their trademark.
The band are so desperate to be heard that storytelling track ‘It’s OK’ slows down the pace to make sure we’re fed its narrative of pollution, greed and inequality beat by beat. We’re taken on a spoken word-style journey that slams the water companies for pumping sewage into our seas, sticks a middle finger up to those who hoard the world’s wealth and condemns the people at the top who leave those less fortunate in the dust.
But don’t be mistaken: Enter Shikari still know how to party. Yes, it’s a serious album, but it comes wrapped in the band’s signature dance beats, guttural breakdowns and thrilling soundscapes that make us want to buy a ticket to the show.
Audiences will still get plenty of chances to dance thanks to ‘Find Out the Hard Way’, which has an infectious bounce to it, while ‘demons’ throws out playful lines like “don’t run away from your demons, boil up the bastards’ innards” that give a familiar cheeky wink reminiscent of previous songs, like ‘Gandhi Mate, Gandhi’ and ‘The Jester’, in the midst of all the outrage.
The best example, arguably, of a signature Shikari track is ‘Shipwrecked!’. It has everything you could ask for – big, soaring vocals, gnarly riffs, a political voice, an explosive chorus, and, of course, trumpets. It wouldn’t be an Enter Shikari album without them.
There’s no escaping the fact that this record is laced with despair, grief and desperation, but it’s also hopeful and we’re left with the reminder that change is possible and a better future may well be on the horizon. Sadly, that day still feels a long way off so, in the meantime, let’s all belt out our frustrations to this unexpected banger of an album.
Rating: 8/10