News of their hiatus took me by surprise. I thought of Enter Shikari as a band who could be life's constant - death, taxes, Shikari shows - one who I never imagined could have been anything but near-omnipresent titans of British live music. Maybe I didn't see the warning signs in the message from the Instagram video vocalist Rou Reynolds shared, in which he detailed how difficult 2026 had been for him, especially in relation to his mental health.
Explaining why Shikari had not played any shows since the surprise release of new album Lose Yourself in April, he said he had “been going through a lot of adversity that has brought my capacity to zero”, which involved burnout, OCD and nervous system sensitisation. He mentioned Shikari had been in discussions about their future as a band but had also written new music. I thought this would be one fraught chapter in a story with more to come.
But, of course, no-one is invincible. Sadly, but truthfully, no band can last forever. At the very least, they're going out in a manner that might be necessary, but it's still on their own terms, with a sense of dignity.
I'm seeing them live at Alexandra Palace in November, and I've got no idea how it's going to feel, or even if it's the last time I'll ever see them play. What I do know is the sadness will be felt incredibly widely, among a loyal fanbase for whom Shikari still feel like people's heroes, who have always stood on business, displaying solidarity years before it was even a buzzword.
Sean spoke to Rou on this week's Drowned In Sound podcast, a 90-minute deep dive into where his head has been in the last twelve months, and what his future might look like without Enter Shikari in it. Along the way, they take on everything from activism to mental health via nervous system regulation and, of course, being champions of the grassroots levy.
Here's three key moments from the podcast...
The first few months of 2026 were "the most terrifying" of his life
"In January, I started getting weird sensations - anxiety through the roof, insomnia began again, and then I started getting these weird pains. January, February, March was the most terrifying period of my life ever. It was like nothing I'd experienced, to the extreme that when I'd think about album release shows that we did, they were basically long panic attacks on stage. They were the worst."
He's been rebuilding his relationship with performing
"I used to believe that I only deserved to exist if I'm giving 100 percent on stage or off stage. You can't keep that up. It's ridiculous.
Now I'm trying this thing where you discipline yourself to just give 50% and that's it. You walk off stage and what it's doing is it's proving to you that life goes on. You exist, you still deserve to exist. People will still connect with you and appreciate you. Most people won't even notice a damn difference. And then you go, 'Oh, okay, I don't need to go through life giving my all all the time, or I won't be accepted.' It's almost like the shows aren't just shows now. They're actually an exercise in hopefully improving my mind."
As a companion to this podcast episode, we've made you a special playlist featuring lots of Shikari plus tunes from Fugazi, Refused, Blood Brothers, and more. Browse our playlist archive.
They're proud of the progress made with the grassroots levy
"To see that develop has been a joy. The surreal thing of hearing your name in the House of Lords is not what you'd ever expect.
"So yeah, it's been incredible. I will say at the same time, I suppose the bigger question is why does the music industry need an influx of money essentially, in order to stay afloat? It goes back to everything we've ever talked about.
"It's the fact that the music industry is an industry within a market-based capitalist economy, which means that power and wealth is always gonna consolidate into smaller and smaller monopolised areas, which brings all sorts of problems. And then you've got the incentives, not just the pure incentive of making art and human connection and bringing people together, which is what music has been since we were hunter gatherers around a campfire.
"It becomes distorted and you can try and remain un-distorted by the systemic pressures and motivations for profit and pleasing your shareholders and market share and all these kinds of things. Whether consciously or subconsciously, you get dragged into various weird and uncomfortable dynamics and systems. It relies again on system change, doesn't it really?"
Enter Shikari's new singles, 'Higher Ground' and 'Light Years', are out now. The band tour the UK and Ireland in November.
DiS Support
Enter Shikari Tour Dates
3.11 - Sporthalle, Hamburg
4.11 - Zenith, Munich
5.11 - Hause Auensee, Leipzig
6.11 - Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf
7.11 - Columbiahalle, Berlin
9.11 - Ancienne Belgique, Brussels
10.11 - La Laiterie, Strasbourg
11.11 - 013 Poppodium, Tilburg
13.11 - Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
14.11 - Utilita Arena, Cardiff
15.11 - Connexin Live, Hull
18.11 - Hydro, Glasgow
19.11 - Co-op Live, Manchester
20.11 - Alexandra Palace, London
21.11 - Alexandra Palace, London - SOLD OUT
2.12 - The Telegraph Building, Belfast
3.12 - The Academy, Dublin
4.12 - The Academy, Dublin - SOLD OUT