Everything Everything

No-one quite operates in the realm of the visionary Everything Everything. Setting dystopian Black Mirror-style concepts to songs which thrillingly find the sweet spot between esoteric experimentation and art-pop accessibility, the band have earned critical acclaim and a devoted following in equal measure, leading to five Ivor Novello and two Mercury Prize nominations, a run of five consecutive Top 10 albums, and major headline shows including London’s Alexandra Palace.

Everything Everything have always been ahead of the curve in terms of exploring future tech concepts years before they became a dominant cultural conversation. In the wake of their previous record, 2022’s ahead-of-the-curve Raw Data Feel (which fed everything from 4Chan forum posts to the teachings of Confucius into an AI program, and using its responses as a basis for its lyrics and titles), vocalist/guitarist Jonathan Higgs spoke of a desire to take things back-to-basics. Jonathan and guitarist/producer Alex Robertshaw lead the band’s collaborative songwriting, which is completed with input from Jeremy Pritchard (bass, back from a sojourn with Foals), and Michael Spearman (drums).

But while the creative process of making their upcoming seventh album, Mountainhead, was a relatively streamlined affair, the end result bursts with a wealth of sonic touches and conceptual themes which makes it feel anything but. And yet within this record, somehow simultaneously both immersively detailed and exuberantly escapist, Everything Everything have found a potion to beckon newcomers into their world.

This time the concept is the Mountainhead, an alternate society in which those at the lowest rung of society’s ladder are forced to work relentlessly to keep its elite, at the mountain’s peak, elevated. While it’s an idea that looks to a nightmarish future, it’s full of engaging metaphors for our current existence, from capitalism and environmentalism to religion and celebrity worship. Jonathan explains it thus:

“In another world, society has built an immense mountain. To make the mountain bigger, they must make the hole they live in deeper and deeper. All of society is built around the creation of the mountain, and a mountain religion dominates all thought. At the top of the mountain is rumoured to be a huge mirror that reflects endlessly recurring images of the self, and at the bottom of the pit is a giant golden snake that is the primal fear of all believers. A ‘Mountainhead’ is one who believes the mountain must grow no matter the cost, and no matter how terrible it is to dwell in the great pit. The taller the mountain, the deeper the hole.”

And that’s the heart of Mountainhead. Its concept offers plenty for fans to lose themselves within and investigate in-depth, but if you take these songs for their pure sensory experience there’s plenty to love. It’s so rich with leftfield production ideas and genre-colliding that fans of niche artists can adore it, but the songs are also instantly inviting to people who haven’t yet fallen under their spell. With Mountainhead, Everything Everything have opened a world of new possibilities without losing any of the essence of their identity.