With their seventh album on the way next year, EVERYTHING EVERYTHING are still pushing at the boundaries. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, The Cut.

Words: Stephen Ackroyd.
Photos: Steve Gullick.

As they approach their seventh studio release, Everything Everything aren't slowing down or playing it safe - quite the opposite. With a conceptual vision inspired by an alternate reality, the band find themselves questioning society, tech, and what it means to be human.

Lead vocalist Jonathan Higgs takes a break from finalising their latest video ("It's all one shot, so there isn't much to do!") to discuss the forthcoming record. "It's got a fairly simple concept; it's about a fictional world wherein all of society is consumed with the building of a giant mountain," he explains. "The only problem is they have to dig a big hole in order to build it, and they have to live in the hole. I wanted something monolithic and simple to hang the album around, an easy but strong metaphor that can be applied to a number of things."

A potent metaphor, while the narrative presents a dystopian universe, the album is not without its lighter moments. As Jonathan puts it, "It's not as anxious as some of our earlier albums. Yes, I worry about the future and also the present, but I don't think I'm alone in that. 'Mountainhead' has quite a few moments of revelry and fun, somewhat divorced from reality, perhaps. I never want to make a record that's one tone, and my life has been fun and happy recently, so there is less negativity coming out of me in the music. I'd say a lot of our records are more like warnings than despair."

Their lead single, 'Cold Reactor', serves as a doorway into this alternate universe, exploring the human cost and the complexities of digital communication. "Isolation and communicating through symbols and screens is talked about a lot," Higgs notes. A portrayal of the modern digital age, where a performative projection of emotion replaces genuine human interaction, it turns out the subject matter is quite literal. "The term "cold reactor" is how I'm describing a user of social media or digital communication rather than a nuclear power station. One who types a crying laughing emoji but does not laugh."

Not new to experimentation, Everything Everything's previous work 'Raw Data Feel' incorporated AI into the creative process. At the time an innovative, experimental approach that quickly became a sort of unnerving present, it's something that doesn't permeate 'Mountainhead'. "We felt as though it wouldn't be interesting to do it now," Higgs admits, highlighting the rapid evolution of technology and its integration into our lives. "We used AI to write a few lines here and there on 'RDF', and make the artwork, but within a very short time, it became very commonplace to use things like ChatGPT and MidJourney, so we felt as though it wouldn't be interesting to do it now."

"It isn't particularly interesting in terms of creating things," he continues. "It can't give you a proper idea; it can only hint at things. We have a lot of ideas going on already and haven't felt the need for it. It can be useful to augment, but not really create."

However, that interest in technology remains. "I think the next big innovation is incorporating the user into the medium, for example, films that are personalised to the individual. Like a game. Everything will become like a game."

'Mountainhead' was forged amidst the latest set of challenges to arrive thanks to our good friend 'the pandemic', in a way that so many bands may yet find over the coming months. "It knocked us right out of sync with the usual timings of an album cycle," Higgs recalls. "We never found our feet properly. So we had to make certain we got the album out at the time we will. This meant a lot of late nights - particularly for Alex [Robertshaw, guitarist] as he produced this album."

The hard work was worth it, though. Asked if there's one track Higgs is especially eager for fans to hear, his answer is pretty straightforward. "There is a song called 'Dagger's Edge' which has some good lines."

In the world of Everything Everything, albums are more than just a collection of songs. They're an exploration, a question, and sometimes a warning. For 'Mountainhead', while the overarching theme is dystopian, it's rooted in our current realities - capitalism, religion, celebrity worship, and digital disconnection.

But, as Higgs points out, the music comes first. "Musically, we never really put the concept before the song; it has to be a good song on its own first - even if the lyrics are nonsense to begin with. Once we feel good about the songs, we can thread in the larger concept."
"Nobody actually wants to hear a concept album; they want to read one," he says, emphasising that while the content is important, the music shouldn't be overshadowed.

This might be their seventh outing, but Everything Everything are showing no signs of plateauing. Instead, they continuously reimagine and rediscover their sound, presenting fresh narratives that captivate and resonate. With the album's release set for the new year, the band stands ready to climb new heights, challenging us to follow along.■