Nu-indie darlings Everything Everything release follow up to Mercury Music Prize nominated album with Arc

Release date:  14 January 2013

Everything Everything’s feet haven’t touched the ground since the release of their Mercury Music Prize nominated debut album Man Alive.  And they’re not done yet – the four-piece are back better than ever with their signature sound.



The album opens with Cough Cough. Those who frequent BBC 6 Music will already be familiar with the yodelling vocals and staccato drum beat. 

There’s something distinctly Latin about the drum beat that pounds through this disjointed and almost schizophrenic track. A territory that was trail-blazed by Friendly Fires. It goes from tinkering synths, to drunken trumpets, to dream like melodies in the space of nano-seconds. This is sonic assault on the earholes.

Kemosabe is another track that has been well-worn on the 6 Music turntables. It follows much the same pattern as Cough Cough, but with a slower tempo and a very subtle guitar hook that runs up to the chorus. Again with the yodelling, incomprehensible lyrics and vocals – I'm two tracks in and I have no idea what this album is about.

Torso of The Week isn't about the dibble inducing Superman actor Henry Cavill… Sorry, must keep to the task in hand… Anyway, there’s slightly more melancholic tone to this track. It’s taken it down a notch from the distinct art-indie-pop that EE are well-known for. It sounds melancholic, but I have no idea what this song is about. Unrequited love, maybe? Despite this, it’s one of my favourites on the album, due to its constant growling guitars and atmospheric keys.

Feet For Hands is half way through this album. It sounds like it’s been influenced by Foals, but you've got to hand it to them, they really step up to the mark. They've put their best foot forward and produced a track that… I don’t where I'm going with this. I’m spent after my Tesco horse burger pun-fest.

Duet, Choice, Mountain, Undrowned, The House Is Dust and The Peak are stooped in atmospheric, melancholic desperation that sounds like it could be nod to early Radiohead. Unfortunately, they can’t resist a bit of faux forcetto that sounds like it’s been sung by an East German boy with a botched sex-swap op. These tracks are somewhat there, but are missing the soul and empathy that this genre evokes and thrives on.

The rest of the album leans more towards alternative 80s synth pop coupled with the disjointed disco beats that set them apart from their contemporaries. The band’s USP is that they sound completely different from the mountain of dross churned out by record labels looking to cash in on the current big thing. 

They’re experimenting and creating, which is what music is about. The only thing is lacks is an emotional attachment – but then we've got Gangnam Style for that.

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