Everything Everything grapple with modern life and the enshittification of culture on powerful new album Poison Pop

The British art-rock landscape is set to shift once again as Manchester-based quartet Everything Everything prepares to release their eighth studio album, Poison Pop, on March 12. Following the critical acclaim of their 2024 dystopian-themed record, Mountainhead, the band has pivoted toward a more visceral, punk-influenced sound. This latest project acts as a direct response to the perceived degradation of digital culture, social media toxicity, and the rapid, often uncritical, adoption of artificial intelligence in the creative arts.

A Decade of Prophetic Songwriting

The gestation of Poison Pop coincided with a pivotal moment in the band’s career: the ten-year anniversary tour of their landmark 2015 album, Get To Heaven. Often cited by critics as one of the most prescient records of the last decade, Get To Heaven explored themes of political instability, the rise of the alt-right, and the erosion of democratic norms—themes that have proven hauntingly accurate in the years since its release.

Frontman Jonathan Higgs noted that revisiting the material provided an unexpected catalyst for the new record. "Get To Heaven is a very aggressive record, and I’m 10 years older now, so it was a case of being like, ‘Hey, guys, remember how fucking insane we used to be?’" Higgs told NME. The process of performing these tracks nightly while simultaneously drafting new material forced the band to confront the evolution of their own sound. While Mountainhead was characterized by abstract, metaphorical storytelling, Poison Pop is intended to be a "slap-in-the-face" record—an urgent, direct, and unapologetic sonic assault designed to cut through the noise of contemporary discourse.

The Methodology: Refinement and Rejection

The production of Poison Pop marked a departure from the band’s typical workflow. Rather than rushing into the studio, the quartet opted for a rigorous, long-form creative process. Over the past two years, the group wrote and subsequently rejected nearly 90 demos, aiming to isolate the strongest creative impulses.

The final selection process was notably democratic. After narrowing the pool to 20 tracks, guitarist Alex Robertshaw and Higgs stepped back, allowing the remaining band members to curate the final tracklist. This shift in creative control was designed to inject fresh perspectives into a process that had, for over a decade, been heavily steered by the primary songwriters. The result is a collection of songs that the band feels are not only more cohesive but also more viable for a live environment, favoring the four-piece interplay that defined their earlier, more raw iterations.

Confronting the Digital "Slop"

At the heart of the album lies a critique of what is colloquially known as "enshittification"—a term popularized to describe the downward trend of digital platforms and content quality as they prioritize algorithm-driven engagement over human value. Tracks such as "Blood Radio" and the title track, "Poison Pop," serve as allegories for modern addiction.

Higgs describes these songs as reflections on the dopamine-loop nature of internet culture, where users are fed "rage-bait" and polarized content, leading to a state of perpetual, albeit addictive, agitation. "It’s about how it feels to turn on this thing and feel anger," Higgs explains. "There is a point where you can either succumb to accepting the enshittification of everything around you, or you can try and reject it."

The AI Debate and the Value of Human Craft

The album arrives at a time when the music industry is grappling with the ethical and creative implications of generative AI. Everything Everything has been at the vanguard of this conversation since the release of their 2022 album, Raw Data Feel, which notably utilized AI for its cover art—a move that was considered experimental at the time but would now trigger intense scrutiny.

Higgs remains pragmatic about the technology. While he acknowledges that AI can serve as a functional tool, he rejects the notion that it poses an existential threat to the human songwriter. He posits that in a market saturated with "AI slop," the value of authentic, human-generated art will inevitably rise. "If you’re really genuinely worried that AI can do what you do, then you shouldn’t be doing it," he asserts. He compares the distinction to mass-produced factory ceramics versus a singular, handmade vase: the utility may be identical, but the inherent value of the human-made object remains unique and irreplaceable.

Live Performance as a Cultural Anchor

Perhaps the most significant implication of Poison Pop is its emphasis on the live experience. In an era where digital consumption has become increasingly solitary and mediated by algorithms, the band sees the concert stage as a rare site of genuine human connection.

"We care more and more about the live show now when we’re making records," says Higgs. "Now, we’re much more in tune with how we can do it live with just four people with two hands each." This decision to prioritize performative reality over studio artifice is a clear ideological stance against the synthetic nature of modern media. By limiting the production to what can be executed on stage, the band is effectively drawing a line in the sand, distinguishing between the ephemeral, algorithm-optimized content that dominates streaming platforms and the physical, visceral energy of a live musical performance.

Historical Context and Future Trajectory

The band’s career has been marked by a consistent effort to document the "time we’re in." From the early, frantic energy of Man Alive to the polished, synth-heavy explorations of A Fever Dream, Everything Everything has functioned as a musical chronicler of the 21st century’s technological and political anxieties.

When asked about the potential for a 10-year anniversary project for A Fever Dream, the band remains cautious. Their current priority is the launch of Poison Pop and the necessary tour cycle that follows. "We don’t want to get bogged down in looking backwards," Higgs says, though he does not rule it out entirely, noting that the band’s decision to celebrate Get To Heaven was a "very unusual" departure from their standard focus on the future.

Implications for the Industry

The release of Poison Pop underscores a growing trend among legacy indie-rock bands: a return to foundational, high-energy songwriting as a rejection of the "low-effort" content cycle. As societal pressures regarding social media saturation and AI influence mount, artists like Everything Everything are increasingly using their platforms to challenge the status quo.

By framing their new album as an act of resistance—a "poison" to be consumed that nonetheless forces the listener to confront their own digital consumption habits—the band is positioning itself as a leader in the counter-cultural movement of the mid-2020s. Whether the record succeeds in its goal of fostering a "sense of connection" remains to be seen, but the band’s commitment to this mission is clear.

As the industry waits for the March 12 release, the broader impact of the album will likely be measured not just in sales or streams, but in how effectively it resonates with an audience increasingly weary of the digital landscape. Everything Everything has spent the better part of a decade trying to map the future; with Poison Pop, they appear more interested in helping their listeners survive the present.