Enter Shikari Will 'Fall Dormant' After 2027

Enter Shikari say they will stop recording and performing at the end of 2027, refusing to call it a split or plan a farewell world tour.

Enter Shikari have posted a letter to fans stating that, as of December 31, 2027, the band will "fall dormant as a recording and performing entity," adding that this dormancy "may eventually end with an eruption back into activity, or may end with extinction. We have no idea which." The statement, reported by NME, The Guardian, Far Out and others, insists the band do not think they are "splitting up" — they simply have no diary beyond 2027. The decision follows a video from frontman Rou Reynolds last month in which he said adversity had brought his "capacity to zero," citing burnout, OCD and nervous system sensitisation after the spring release of 'Lose Your Self'.

What makes the news land hard for fans is the band's candour about the toll of two decades outside genre pigeonholes. The letter says being an 'Enter Shikari' hasn't always been easy "professionally or personally, with obvious negative impact on one's mental health when tasked with 'coming up with the goods'." Rather than a conventional retirement announcement, outlets note the band framed the open-ended uncertainty as "liberating" — with NME highlighting the possible Fugazi model of rehearsing "for fun, without feeling the need to make anyone else listen." The Guardian reports the group have six UK top 10 albums, including 2023's No. 1 'A Kiss for the Whole World', making the pause all the more striking.

There are fourteen months of activity first. November brings the band's biggest-ever UK and European arena tour, which Far Out reports kicks off at Nottingham's Motorpoint Arena on November 13 before stops in Cardiff, Hull, Glasgow's OVO Hydro, Manchester's Co-op Live and two nights at Alexandra Palace. Impericon notes the band also plan mainland European and North American festival dates in 2027, plus US shows in Florida, Georgia and Tennessee for January. New music is coming "sooner rather than later," alongside a filmed project, and 2027 will mark anniversaries of 'Take To The Skies', 'The Spark' and 'A Flash Flood Of Colour'.

In a break from rock-band convention, the band explicitly ruled out a victory-lap trek. According to the statement quoted by multiple outlets: "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 hope to play some favourite places "one last time" but are not sure how feasible that is yet. NME reports the band say their focus is making the November trek "the absolute best it can be," adding: "If that ends up being the last time some people see us, we want to make it special."

2027 is being framed as a celebration rather than an ending, with three anniversaries converging: 20 years of 'Take To The Skies', 10 of 'The Spark' and 15 of 'A Flash Flood Of Colour'. The band close the letter with gratitude: "thank you for your support, your sweat, your passion, your energy," signing off "Solidarity, Rob, Chris, Rory, Rou," per Impericon.

The group say their heads are "fully into the November tour" for now, with new music and a finished filming project due soon, per NME. EasternEye notes the band trace back to 1999, when Reynolds, Chris Batten and Rob Rolfe formed as Hybryd in St Albans, with Rory Clewlow joining in 2003 — friends since 15 who have now run out of plans for the first time in two decades. What lies beyond December 31, 2027, the band concede, they genuinely do not know.