Why I Love The Spark

Why I Love The Spark

The Spark is the 5th album by the English Electronicore/ Alternative-rock band Enter Shikari released in 2017 and is still to this day one of my absolute favourite albums. The band are known for making fairly cohesive and nigh-on concept albums and most fans will point to either The Mindsweep or A Flash Flood Of Colour for the title of most cohesive and concept-like, but for me The Spark takes it. That's not why I love it though, I love it because it takes a look at most aspects of humanity, happiness, anxiety, war, political issues, loneliness and more, and does so with a fucking good tracklist. 

I know that many dislike The Spark because it's so far from the band's origins and is much more commercial and less heavy, and while I do miss some of the heavier cuts like 'Sssnakepit', The Spark is still undoubtedly Shikari but just in a different light. This is fairly obvious from the opening two tracks, which true to Shikari form are a combo piece, but just a very different one to previous albums, instead of being a rally-cry for all of humanity, a poem on the capitalist state of the world or a cry for change on the environmentally doomed fate of the world 'The Spark' and 'The Sights' (a criminally underrated cut) starts off the album with one of humanity's most important attributes: curiosity. This suits the album as a whole and really sets the tone for the LP, instead of being about massive global change it's more about humanity as an abstract concept and almost a celebration of this, which is why 'The Sights' is perhaps Shikari's happiest song up until that point.

The upbeat and happier songs are what makes this album stand out from the rest of the band's discography, and for good reason, they're unlike pretty much anything else that the band have released. The first half of the album is where this really is apparent, with the triple punch of 'The Sights', 'Live Outside' and 'Take My Country Back' being probably my favourite set of three songs on any Shikari record and all tackling completely different issues. 'The Sights' is the aforementioned celebration of human curiosity, with 'Live Outside' becoming the band's anthem against anxiety and being more relevant than ever with the current lockdown restrictions. Rou Reynolds's ability to turn a crushing mental illness into an anthem of strength against it and encourage people to think of it differently is one of the many reasons I love this album so much, as well as the amazing memories I have of 'Live Outside' live. Finally from the triple, 'Take My Country Back' is the first properly political song of the record with the double-entendre of Xenophobics wanting to take the country back from immigrants and Rou's wishes to take the country forward. Once again the fact that the song is about a fairly dark and serious thing, racists basically, but manages to create an absolute banger and feeling of hope and solidarity is such an amazing feature of the album. Some will say that the lack of anger but instead one of hope is a bad thing on songs like this but I think it's just another way to look at it and there's plenty of anger-filled Shikari tracks. 

The two 'rowdy' cuts of the album are undoubtedly 'Rabble Rouser' and 'The Revolt Of The Atoms', admittedly I do wish that there were one or two really loud and full on songs on the album, with the former having one of the most memorable lyrics from the band 'I torture rockstars with pliers'. This is where the majority of the angry energy is on the album except it's more about putting that energy out into pits, as Rou has said it's less philosophical and more moshy, despite this it's a fantastic song and I always wait to belt 'screw screw screw'. 'The Revolt Of The Atoms' is not a particular favourite from the band, but it's still a really great and fun song about sentient atoms or something? I'm not too sure where Rou was going with this one but hey it's still a great song.

For me what makes The Spark special is the slower, softer tracks on the album, not only are there more than a normal Shikari LP but they are also quite a lot better in my opinion. Starting with 'Airfield', an incredibly beautiful and uplifting song that manages to give hope while being sensitive and not overly cheesy, as well as being perfectly timed in the track-list by just toning the energy down slightly enough to make the pacing better. 'Shinrin-Yoku' is a beautifully rising song that leads perfectly into the next track while still being a really great song in its own right. Out of all the slower songs on the album it's 'Undercover Agents' that stands out the most, with a fantastic chorus, message of solidarity, hope and generally just a song that feels so uplifting and happy. Finally, 'An Ode To Lost Jigsaw Pieces' closes the album out (besides the pretty yet forgettable outro) on an extremely triumphant note, the addition of trumpets to the song freshening up the band's sound as well as hinting at the broader use of instruments that would be seen on the next album.

The album may be quite controversial with a lot of Enter Shikari fans because of how much it changes the band's sonic direction and style, but to me this is just another string to their bow and just another set of fantastic songs packaged in one of the best thought out albums. All of the previous LPs have definitely had an aim, generally political as well as musical, and for the most part I've felt that it's always fallen a bit short of hitting the aim in terms of a cohesive idea, but with a slightly more achievable goal with a focus on the human experience and self-reflection the band really hit all the right notes and made me fall in love with The Spark and Enter Shikari. 

Favourite songs: The Sights, Live Outside, Take My Country Back, An Ode To Lost Jigsaw Pieces

Least Favourite song: The Revolt Of The Atoms

Check out my article all about Enter Shikari for an overview of them as a band.

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