Shikari: -2016-

The most concrete artifact of Shikari’s 2016 is The Mindsweep: Hospitalised . Released in October, this project was far more than a standard remix album. It was a bold reanimation of their 2015 LP, The Mindsweep . While the original album was a ferocious critique of drone warfare, surveillance culture, and political apathy, the Hospitalised version took those bones and injected them with a new, defiantly human spirit. By collaborating with a diverse roster of electronic producers (from drum & bass luminaries like High Contrast to hardcore innovators like Rout), Shikari deconstructed their own anthems. Tracks like "The Last Garrison (feat. High Contrast)" were transformed from pogoing punk-rockers into euphoric, cathartic dancefloor missiles. This was not a dilution of their message but a strategic amplification. They realized that to fight the rising tide of 2016’s darkness—the Brexit referendum, the US presidential election, the ongoing refugee crisis—they needed not just anger, but also ecstasy. Hospitalised was the sound of a band triaging a wounded world with the defibrillator pads of electronic euphoria.

Crucially, the events of 2016 validated the very thesis Shikari had been building for a decade. For years, their lyrics about environmental collapse ("Hoodwinker"), political duplicity ("Anaesthetist"), and social control ("Never Let Go of the Microscope") could be dismissed as alarmist. But the Brexit vote and the election of Donald Trump shattered that illusion of stability. The mainstream caught up with Shikari’s dystopian vision. This could have been a paralyzing "I told you so" moment. Instead, the band responded with characteristic pragmatism and hope. They leaned further into their philanthropic efforts (launching more initiatives for refugee aid and grassroots activism) and doubled down on their "positive mental attitude" philosophy. The fear had been realized, they seemed to say; now the work of resistance and rebuilding truly begins. The music of 2016, particularly Hospitalised , was the soundtrack for that first, staggering step into the unknown. shikari -2016-

In retrospect, 2016 was the year Enter Shikari grew up. It was the year they shed the last remnants of their "trance-core" novelty tag and assumed their rightful role as the conscience of a generation. By re-energizing their own work on The Mindsweep: Hospitalised and delivering transcendent live performances, they offered a masterclass in artistic adaptation. They showed that when the world goes dark, the answer isn't simply to scream louder into the void, but to build a bigger, brighter, more inclusive dance floor. For Shikari, 2016 was not the end of the world—it was the end of the world as we knew it, and they felt fine enough to fight for something better. The most concrete artifact of Shikari’s 2016 is