Everyzine Everyzine Vol.1 - 2020

almost industrial-tinged in the loud and
bombastic, in-your-face production with
almost zero negative space even between verses:
until suddenly the track comes to a halt and
you’re thrown into the album’s musical black
hole: two minutes of deafening near-silence,
with only a singular pulsating beat and Higgs’
vague repetition of “Do you have any ideas?”.
Something is coming, and then:
Track 7, Fortune 500 is where the act of
terrorism that has been whispered about in
hushed tones since track one seems to have
occurred. Whilst most of the album thus far has
been danceable, and the true intentions behind
the lyrics easy to ignore, this is quieter, more
anxious and jittery. A loud police siren
sample plays above all instruments, whilst
Higgs’ falsetto whispers and screams with a
disturbed anxiety. He’s committed an atrocity
and knows this, but it’s too late now. “I know
I’m only living half of a life, they said that
I should do this for my sons.” It’s a twisted
experience of a track and seems to catch a
listener off guard, and that’s why I’d consider
it to be the most vital track to a record whose
concepts and ideas are often overlooked by
its listeners. Then comes Blast Door which is
a sudden and intense switch back into Higgs’
personal
lyricism: in what he has called ‘just an extremely
angry rant at everything I hate about
the world.’ some of the wittiest one-liners of
the record are apparent here: “Shoot a starving
porno for the yuppies in a circle” appears to
detail the upper class’s fetishisation and
commodification of poverty and the people
with issues that they could never imagine,
and is probably the single greatest line in the
band’s discography. Musically, this one features
Jonathan rapping once again, a sound which I
must stress won’t be for everybody, as well as
some of the most epic backing vocals from the
entire band during the chorus.
Closing track Warm Healer is the last that I
want to shine special light onto: a track which,
like opener To The Blade, feels almost like a
letter- whilst To The Blade was felt as if it was
addressed to a family, Warm Healer feels more
personal, as if addressed to a romantic partner.
“Babe, they call me the medicine man, but my
old pills don’t work anymore.” This semantic
field of medical imagery used throughout gives
the impression that the character believes that
his actions are a source for good, even if he
knows inside that what he is doing is wrong.
Another more unobtrusive track, and one
which is unique in the way that it seems to
feature nothing more than a chunky bassline,
the lightest synths, and vocals at points: an idea
have seen very few bands attempt, and even
less succeed at. It’s a cold and desolate sendoff
after the often hyperactive and excitable music
of the album.
And all of that is why, without any competition,
Get to Heaven is the most essential key
to understanding my music taste. It’s a record
which can be enjoyed in two ways: for some of
the most detailed and interesting yet danceable
and largely accessible pop music I can think of;
or as a record which goes in depth on the story
of a character whose actions may be awful, but
leaves you possibly understanding the meaning
behind and motivation it, something I believe
we forget about too much at times. It’s the record
we still need in the times of a world gone
mad, a record which truly deserves the place it
has in the hearts of so many. Thank you
Everything Everything.
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