"Get To Heaven" is a pretty radical statement in comparison to their previous albums which featured more sombre tones and sensitive lyrics. This is quite the opposite, firing on all cylinders, aggressive in every definition of the word. It's this buzz which gives "Get To Heaven" its edge, with banger after banger coming on out to pull your attention with its unique approach to pop music, whilst still maintaining its accessibility throughout.
"To the Blade", the opening track, is to the point, addressing you directly as the listener with its first line: "So you think there's no meaning in anything that we do?" It's sense of urgency is immediate and there is no second guessing as to what it is trying to achieve. The song is an open letter to a person of a questionable nature, proven by that very line, possibly relating to terrorism. A heavy message for any song, but this just goes head first into it, a radical action attacked head-on by a radical opener. The elephant in the room. The track bursts into life mid-verse, surprising further. This burst alone showcases Jonathan Higgs' vocal talent with his ability to snap between differing vocal styles and pitches at an instant. As an opener, it serves as a perfect introduction to the album, the aggressive and somewhat overbearing nature doesn't slow with later tracks. It keeps going.
So as the story goes with "Distant Past", continuing the thumping beats started in the previous tracks. It relates back also in terms of its theme, in that history repeats itself, with the distant past serving as a simpler time. As we "cross the Rubicon" or our evolutionary point of no return, the distant past is our ticket to change what is set in the present. Their unique flavour and approach to pop continues with this, an electronic presence is greatly felt in the chorus in particular with the synth strings which is not too dissimilar to house music. It's a blend that needs to be heard more often and experimented with, as the rest of the tracks on this album strive and achieve in doing so.
It keeps on coming with the title track "Get To Heaven", overcoming the horrors of everyday life and understanding them: "We can get to that heaven!" Served alongside this is the falsetto-defying vocals once more and a blissful chorus featuring its own quirky mix of instruments, uncanny in how it fits together. "Regret" contrasts this, opening with a banging percussion beat and the title of the song serving as its hook. A simple statement of wanting to change mistakes for the better, but powerful in its execution and again being direct in nature, asking you directly: "Did you imagine it in a different way?" Thinking about what went wrong and how your own imagination would make up for the scenario and serve as the way it actually happened.
Now, my favourite hook of the album "Spring / Sun / Winter / Dread" opens with Higgs' yelp in danger of time passing by as the clock hand looms heavy before throwing you into its chorus, questioning the inescapable nature of time. Season after season passes and you get older, "[no way!]" Higgs proclaims. It's another simple message in the nature of "Regret" but again it is one that affects us all. The song becomes impossible to resist as it hits its cut-throat bridge and you can just feel your head letting go, banging away with the track, building in intensity and speed until the song finally cuts out. When you can end your song with the bridge, AND make it incredibly satisfying, you've got a winning combo there and then.
It takes a transitional turn with "The Wheel (Is Turning Now)", a darker tone showing their "Kid A" influence rearing its head, still maintaining a beat but one that is more subdued, a stark contrast in comparison to the rest of the album so far. To which is the direction the album goes for the rest of its duration with tracks like "Fortune 500", an account of breaking into Buckingham Palace and murdering the Queen, reemerging with "No Reptiles" which again starts subdued but builds to an almost heavenly climax, dealing with rejection and pleading for a meaning in the world. "Just give me this one night, just one night to feel..."
This album is a bold new direction for Everything Everything and a direction that should be pushed even further with their next album, as while it can be overwhelming at times and for some it may have to be taken in parts, but it is truly enthralling as it never lets go of your attention and is always at the forefront.
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