Next Monday post-hardcore group Enter Shikari release what will be the band’s fourth album “The Mindsweep“. Can I say that I am hyped about this? Not really. My interest in their music has faded as the years pass; had I not searched the group up on Google earlier this week, I would definitely not have known that a new album was coming soon. It also may be due to the dub-step stuff they began to incorporate into their music. It’s a shame. I used like to like them quite a lot. But I believe “Common Dreads” was their last album that I was excited for, and learnt to appreciate after listening to it a few times.

“Gap in the Fence”, about subservience and taking things at face value (in Rou Reynolds’ words, not mine), is a track that builds and becomes bigger as it goes on. Initially beginning as one of the slower and quieter ones on the album, Reynolds sings on his lonesome with an acoustic guitar; soft percussion and pretty vocal harmonies occur soon after. It is halfway through when the music somehow then evolves into this glistening house/trance beat where Rou makes it clear that he needs ‘to get out of here’. Many, many times. But it all results in a climactic finish consisting of loud guitars, a mix of shouting and singing, and a final word that stretches out for a few seconds before coming to an emphatic stop. “GRANNTEEEEEEEEEEEEEED-UH.” I feel Reynolds’ anger just listening to it,

It then segues into the next track “Havoc B”, but that’s besides the point.

“Gap in the Fence” is a sick one. Very nice.

In this video – at 6:50 or so – the band talk about the song. You might want to watch the whole thing if you want to know the background behind each individual track on “Common Dreads”.