'Mountainhead' is the new album from Everything Everything featuring lead singles 'Cold Reactor', 'The Mad Stone' and 'The End of the Contender'. Contrary to perception, 'Mountainhead' features more guitars than their previous album 'Raw Data Feel', modulating it through synths to create this illusion in the background of the record. Produced by Alex Robertshaw (lead guitarist of Everything Everything), the layered tracks have become even more streamlined with Jonathan Higgs's lyricism conveying the intriguing concept of a society built on a mountain.
Higgs introduces this concept, with the top boasting a utopian mirror and the base hosting a large golden snake that "mountainheads" fear. The structure of the mountain becomes a wider commentary on capitalism, as those who dwell in the pits of the mountain believe that they need to continuously elevate and support the elite who live above.
Compared to their previous record, 'Raw Data Feel' which was arguably overshadowed by the attention on the use of artificial intelligence, the band's new record approaches this dystopian concept with less complex plug-ins and use of AI. I disagree with Far Out's recent critique of the album's production as being "maximalist and busy" with "weak messaging and overblown sounds" that lack "any level of humanity to get a hold of". When listening to 'Mountainhead', it can be easy to be dismissive and categorise the record as another superficial dystopian album that is based around a 'loose concept'. However, I found the album to be thought-provoking with subtle metaphors that comment on the subjugated society of the mountain. Overall, 'Mountainhead' is a triumph and indicates the band's confidence in having creative control over the direction of production and world-building. This has definitely become one of my favourite Everything Everything albums and I would highly recommend checking it out! What did you think of the album? Let me know in the comments down below and listen to the album in full on my Spotify Reviews Playlist (link in bio).