A Kiss For The Whole World proves Enter Shikari are capable of nothing but pure, political, social, and ambitious fire

They've parried accusations of ditching their heavy sound; going light; losing whatever fans decided they had on the previous album. Yet this is a band who have consistently delivered nothing but fire, politically, socially, sonically, and ambitiously – their recent run of residency shows proved it, and A Kiss For The Whole World proves it again.

Following the production masterpiece that was the orchestral, rousing, starry-eyed Nothing is True and Everything is Possible, Shikari comfortably secured a new load of fan favourites. “satellites* *”, “{The Dreamer’s Hotel}” and more explode into the band’s already incendiary live set, and we’ve seen new cuts do the same: “bloodshot”, with its giddy anticipation and electric builds and drops devolving into Rou Reynolds’ ringleader delivery, “(pls) set me on fire” and its nihilistic singalongs and dizzying, classic Shikari riffs. Much of A Kiss For The Whole World draws on Enter Shikari’s ridiculous wealth of knowledge on what makes a total banger, and the blueprint they’ve got is one of the best in rock; from “Dead Wood”’s classical denouement into stadium-sized, fireworks-ready outro, to the deep, dark synths and quivering electro of “feed your søul”, Enter Shikari break themselves down into their component parts, shine a light on their skills, then seamlessly weave it back together with breakneck instrumentals and opulent production.

A Kiss For The Whole World is also, as it happens, a kiss for the whole Enter Shikari fanbase, courtesy of the band themselves. Cheeky lyrical nods abound – “you’re still standing like a statue”, “live outside”, even the squint-and-you’ll-see A Flash Flood of Colour front cover, Enter Shikari pay joyful homage to their musical career up till now. There’s a lot of joy and a lot of playfulness across A Kiss For The Whole World: it's practically musical theatre if Andrew Lloyd Webber did drum and bass. The pop sensibilities that Shikari have had to defend shine blindingly and brilliantly: “(pls) set me on fire”, demonstrates beyond any disbelief that infectious and intense need not be mutually exclusive.

Enter Shikari have long been loud, loud, loud about political, social, and global issues. Things aren’t great, so this has meant a lot of their writing on the subject has been vicious, angry – rousing by force and deep, urgent necessity. All of those facets are still present through the veins of A Kiss For The Whole World, but as Enter Shikari reinvent themselves again, in perhaps the most hopeless times of all, they’re seeding their commentary with hope, happiness, and community. “goldfish ~” speaks to feelings of helplessness and suffocation, trapped, but for its hissing verses, it teases a smile out of you involuntarily in the chorus with its sunny synth chords. “Leap into the Lightning” operates between similar poles, as do the pair of “giant pacific octopus” tracks that close off the record. Enter Shikari are as invigorating as ever, and perhaps at their most invigorated too.