The Spark

The follow-up to 2015's , will likely divide fans who skew toward the English rockers' post-hardcore tendencies, as it boasts their most commercial-sounding set of songs to date. A nervy amalgam of , and have delivered an album that bristles with the myriad tensions of 2017, from Brexit to and everything in between, with mixed results. Opening on a hopeful note with the anthemic "The Sights," begins to distill its discontent on the propulsive "Live Outside," a jerky panic attack of a track with a road trip-ready earworm chorus, and again on "Take My Country Back," which is a little too on the nose. Both cuts are indicative of what follows, which is a largely radio-friendly amalgam of electropop, grime, and dance-rock that's been run through the emo filter. If that formula sounds compelling, then there's a lot to love here, especially on some of the more idiosyncratic offerings like "Airfield" and "Shinrin-yoku," but listeners expecting to bloody themselves in the electronicore, stadium-screamo assault of past outings might want to take a pass. ~ James Christopher Monger