Capping their record-breaking era in 2018, cemented themselves as one of the biggest international acts of the decade. Traversing the globe and selling out stadiums, they absorbed plenty of sounds and stories from fans around the world, which helped inform their experimental EP. That spirit continued to course through the studio, yielding their ambitious 2019 double album, . As traveling troubadours hopping across continents and seas, captured some of that sonically revolutionary spirit found on while pushing the pop-sense positivity a la . However, exists in its own strange, unpolished world, which frontman described as "totally raw" and pure. Their least immediate or mainstream-friendly effort thus far, the unconventional set veers into multiple genres and various directions, which requires listeners to surrender to the experience. Breaking further away from their standard output, also takes a stance as their most political statement to date, decrying police brutality on the infuriating "Trouble in Town," addressing firearm control on the sardonic "Guns" (which also has the honor of being the first studio track to feature swearing), and putting a relatable, human face on the global refugee crisis with the otherwise joyful "Orphans." While these moments are intense (for ), they don't completely overwhelm the album. Rather, in typical band fashion, rays of hope, perseverance, and life shine through the darkness. Interpolating Pakistani and Iranian poets, the voices of , , and , and Nigerian church choirs, lifts spirits on a rhythmic, worldly scale, just as church bells and gospel singers elevate intimate moments like "BrokEn" and "When I Need a Friend." While every track offers its own special moments, absolute standouts include the devastating "Daddy," a stirring piano-based weeper that sounds like early ; the bright "Champion of the World," which interpolates 's "Los Angeles, Be Kind"; and epic showstopper "Arabesque," a horn-drenched peak in their catalog that showcases and his band and Belgian rapper . If this all sounds like a lot, it is, making this effort a scattered but fascinating anomaly in their discography that requires a few spins to truly take hold. Closing a decade defined by stadium-sized hits of optimism, manages to grow even bigger with , absorbing flavors from across the globe with their most indulgent and, perhaps, poignant album yet. ~ Neil Z. Yeung