Enter Shikari releases The Spark

In 2015, the ground started to fall from under Rou Reynolds feet. Hed been having occasional panic attacks for years, but hadnt put a name to the problem until that brutal summer. Frayed by touring and heavy professional expectations, he started self-medicating, which backfired massively. The anxiety I get for those things is ridiculous, Rou says over water and toast in a central London café, cutting an unexpectedly quiet figure. So then I combat that with various substances that Im useless at. My metabolism isnt built for non-stop partying, so I think it was a perfect storm of anxiety being exhausted, drugs and then my body went, Nope! Enough!

First came three months of insomnia. The landscape in your head completely changes, says Rou. Its so hard to stay in control of thoughts and stay present. It makes you feel like youre losing your grip like you want to escape. His last two grandparents had recently passed away. Then his seven-year relationship disintegrated. And before that I was in another six-year relationship, Rou laughs, so Ive spent my whole life in quite secure relationships, which when they end translates as this crippling fear of being alone. It was the perfect storm. I had that classic thing of feeling like you had some sort of structure that all started to crumble.

The world was also spinning on its axis. Brexit. Trump. Terrorism. The steady dismantling of the NHS. The biting effects of austerity. The kind of social issues that have been Enter Shikaris lifeblood for almost a decade now sending their last three albums Top 10, and garnering over 85 million Spotify plays yet Rou was initially at a loss for how to handle this onslaught in lyrics. Its been shock after shock the last few years, which Ive found really difficult to get to grips with and compute in terms of how Im going to turn that into art, he says in a self-deprecating fashion.

It goes without saying that Enter Shikari pulled it off. In fifth album The Spark, Rou, Chris Batten (bass), Rob Rolfe (drums) and Rory Clewlow (guitar) have written a soundtrack to our tumultuous world; a record for everyone whos filled with frustration, but hasnt lost the capacity for hope. The spark is a new connection, a new beginning, says Rou. It can be short and insignificant, but it can create something so significant. The spark is that light at the end of the tunnel when everything seems to be falling apart, but youre able to see some sort of path out of the dark. Produced by David Kosten (Everything Everything, Bat For Lashes), its Shikaris most melodic album, invigorated by the energy they felt as a band after a sold-out 2016 arena tour, and one that will see them break beyond punk to be recognised as a great British band in a lineage spanning The Beatles via Pink Floyd and Joy Division to Blur. Were here to disgrace that list or be embraced into that list, I havent decided which yet, Rou grins.

As Shikari stared down the barrel of album five, Rou had no idea what to write about, but for the first time going into a record, he knew what the music called for. Shikari made their name on four hyper-ambitious, frenzied albums, ricocheting between genres hardcore punk, drumnbass, garage, dubstep, grime in a single song. This approach won them a clutch of Kerrang!, AIM and NME awards but this time, Rou decided to switch the script. I get so easily over-enthusiastic that I wake up one morning and I wanna write a symphony, then some obscure electronica; a choral piece, hardcore punk, he says. I find it hard to focus on one sound. With The Spark, his intentions were clear: simplicity, melody, songcraft. Not dampening the variety, but trying to write the best songs instead of trying to be the heaviest, the most technical, the most emotional. Shikari found their ideal producer in David Kosten. I co-produced it with him, says Rou. I wanted someone that would help push us out of our comfort zone, understand the direction and give us confidence, and he encompassed all those things so well. Plus he had all the vintage 80s synths I was drooling over. He had so many ideas, it was perfect.

I wanna prove myself as a songwriter, Rou continues. Hed always thought maximum volume equaled maximum passion, but an odd revelation last year taught him otherwise. Id always been a Bowie fan, but his death made me put time into his back catalogue. I did a Bowie-oke party, bought this cheap software and got a free trial for a week, and I found myself using it home alone. I learnt so much. Bowie gave Rou the confidence to start singing in a lower register, as did further karaoke experimentations with Sinatra and Johnny Cash. Joy Divison and Depeche Mode also lead him to identify as a singer for the first time in Shikaris 18-year history, and he toned down the screaming to make his message clearer. I was always the guitarist that fell into being the frontman, says Rou. And theres all sorts.