Album Review: Everything Everything – A Fever Dream
2 min read
Everything Everything is a four piece UK based indie rock band made up of Jonathan Higgs on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Jeremy Pritchard on bass and keys, Michael Spearman on drums and Alex Robertshaw on lead guitar. James Ford who has worked with many big names including the Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Haim and Depeche Mode, produced Everything Everything’s fourth studio album release, A Fever Dream.
Everything Everything’s music is difficult to narrow down to one genre because they draw from various styles to create their own sound. Can’t Do, certainly the most ‘pop’ sounding of all the tracks on the album, would fit in comfortably in a dance playlist, but has a cutting edge of its own. Desire has a progressive new rock feel painted with influence from Queen especially in the vocal harmonies and a touch of Muse (think Uprising) in the sense of momentum it creates. Put Me Together reminds me a little of Everything In Its Right Place by Radiohead in the way that they handle time signature, the electronica blend and vocal tone, but it is completely different in its overall feel.
One aspect of their writing style that I think they manage with a lot of success is texture. They instinctively know when to fill the sound while being discerning with the actual tones they use, and they know when to pull back again giving a satisfying sense of build up and release in their music. Ivory Tower is a great example of how vibrant they can make their music feel, even manipulating the lyrics and melody to add to the textural play by weaving between the instrument lines. They execute a range of flexibility in their sound and writing style from the mesmerizing sound and climax of A Fever Dream to the punchy album opener Knight Of The Long Knives.
I think Everything Everything have done well to stand out from the crowd with the release of A Fever Dream. They have a defined sound and direction in their artistry. They are able to draw influence from other artists without creating a derivative sound.
