Enter Shikari have confirmed plans to go on an indefinite hiatus at the end of 2027.
The news comes after frontman Rou Reynolds posted a video last month, explaining the band’s lack of activity in 2026. He said he’d “been going through a lot of adversity which has brought my capacity to zero”, citing burnout, OCD and nervous system sensitisation.
Reynolds noted that Enter Shikari had released their latest album, ‘Lose Your Self’, back in the spring “and then did bugger all”. However, he explained that the break was “very much needed”. The singer went on to speak about “the future of the band”, before promising to update fans “soon”.
Now, the group have posted a lengthy letter to fans via social media where they detailed what’s coming next. This followed the announcement of some intimate warm-up shows for this month, ahead of their biggest-ever UK and European tour in November (find any remaining tickets here).
In the statement, Enter Shikari said they had no plans beyond the end of next year, when they’ll “fall dormant as a recording and performing entity”.
“This dormancy may eventually end with an eruption back into activity, or may end with extinction. We have no idea which,” the message continued. “As everyone keeps reminding us, 2027 will be 20 years since the release of our debut album [‘Take To The Skies’]. We’ve been playing music together since we were 15, and friends longer still, but there’s no doubt this is a huge milestone.”
They went on to note the “obvious negative impact on one’s mental health” when remaining active in a touring band. “But we do this because we love it,” the statement read. “And we are lucky enough to have built an audience who understand that the less-trodden path is sometimes the more interesting journey.
“However, it gets to the point where the often difficult terrain of that path starts to frazzle and drain the humble traveller.”
Enter Shikari admitted that their “priorities and capacities [had] changed” over the years, and said they’d had “difficult conversations about what the next few years should hold” before Reynolds’ health issues.
“While we don’t think we’re ‘splitting up’, we do not have a diary that extends beyond 2027,” they explained.
“We’re genuinely excited to make next year a celebration of what this band means to us. But after that it’ll be time to go away for a good while and see what being Rou, Rob, Rory and Chris, and not ‘Enter Shikari’, feels like.
“Maybe we’ll be like Fugazi and just get together to rehearse for fun, without feeling the need to make anyone else listen to it? All we really know is, after two decades of being a ‘professional’ band, not having plans three years in advance is liberating.”
Looking ahead to next month’s arena tour, Enter Shikari said they’re focused on making the trek the “absolute best it can be”. They wrote: “If that ends up being the last time some people see us, we want to make it special.”
The band also teased that they’d been “working on some bits of new music, which you should get to hear sooner rather than later, along with another thing we’ve just finished filming”.
As for 2027, Reynolds and co. have booked some festival dates in mainland Europe and North America, and plan to announce some US shows for January. Enter Shikari will celebrate the 20th anniversary of ‘Take To The Skies’, while marking 10 years of ‘The Spark’ and 15 years of ‘A Flash Flood Of Colour’.
“If we were better at making the most of things and planning ahead, this whole message would be the precursor to announcing a ‘farewell’ world tour, but.. yeah.. there’s no world tour,” they explained.
“We’ll hopefully get to play some of our favourite places ‘one last time’, but we’re not sure how feasible that is yet.”
The band concluded: “We really hope we’ll be seeing you over the next fourteen months or so, somehow. But, if not, all that remains to be said is thank you for your support, your sweat, your passion, your energy.”
Speaking to NME in April, Reynolds teased a “new” live production for Enter Shikari’s huge UK tour. “We’ve been so focused on the album that we haven’t even dared to open that thought process yet!” he told us. “Luckily, when you have the opportunity to do two nights at Ally Pally, you know that you can bring a lot to the table.”
Around the same time, the band played a tiny gig in Manchester to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their first-ever show in the city.
