ENTER Shikari aren’t known for being shy, retiring types.

But their upcoming tour looks set to be loud even by their standards – as they’ll be delivering it with quadraphonic sound.

That means that their shows, which get underway at the O2 Academy on February 18, will see gig-goers surrounded by the band’s noise thanks to extra speakers at the back.

“It’s going to be really something else,” enthuses their drummer, Rob Rolfe.

“The first time we heard it was at the Coachella festival a few years ago, where Roger Waters was playing the Dark Side of the Moon album on the main stage, and for the majority of the set the sound was behind us.

“Then there was a saxophone solo that came right next to us, and since then we’ve always been really up for experimenting or playing around with it.

"Now we’ve worked hard pretty hard on the process, where we’ve had a couple of studios set up with all these noises whizzing around us, which has been so much fun.

“At the gigs there’s going to be all sorts of sound effects, people will feel like they’re surrounded and not know what’s going on … Everything about the show is about getting in their faces.”

The Academy show is also one of the smallest gigs lined up for the St Albans foursome, which shows just how they’ve grown in popularity over the years.

They’ve put together four albums that bounce between styles, from intense rock to wild electronica, with live gigs that are known for delivering high energy chaos.

They’ve also stepped up to the plate as one of only a few bands able to use their songs as political and social commentary, instead of just going on about nights out in the club. It’s marked the foursome as a band who genuinely have something to say.

“We prefer to think of ourselves as a socially conscious band, and that the songs we write are relevant to the society we live in and are reflective of that,” explains the sticksman.

“It bothers me that there’s so much going on in the world that’s massive, life-changing events and all people can write about are their ex girlfriends, and surprises me that we get a label as a political band because all we’re talking about are things that we see in the newspapers and on TV.”

That means the band are often involved with some unlikely products – last year they teamed up with the Cuipo charity to sell socks and raise funds to save the rain forests, for example.

Their musical path also surprises, with 2015 bringing both The Mindsweep and then The Mindsweep: Hospitalised, a remix album where the group’s songs were worked on by artists from drum n’ bass label Hospital Records.

“I always think there’s no bigger compliment than if your songs get other people’s creative juices flowing,” says Rob.

“Music is a fluid and constantly changing thing, so to have someone else take your ideas and mould it into something else is a great thing to watch.

"We can get inspiration from anything – we’re big drum n’ bass fans and what a lot of them did with our songs was really interesting, and excited us even more.”

Nothing would be surprising about where the group might go next – a recent EP even displayed Shikari’s acoustic side.

For Rob, it’s all about making sure they retain an energy for what they’re doing.

“We’re always aiming to do different things and the main focus is the passion for it,” he says.

“We’ve never thought we should change our music to suit radio, or our fans – we just want to constantly make music that we’re passionate about.

"That’s our driving force. We haven’t had to sell our souls to the devil to get to this stage, and the support we’ve had is overwhelming.”

Also overwhelming was Shikari’s first experience of the Barrowland several years ago.

Although it’s the O2 Academy they visit next week, it’s a Barrowland memory that springs to mind for Rob – and not for musical reasons …

“The first time we played the Barras I was young and stupid, and drank most of a bottle of Buckfast before going onstage,” he recalls.

“I thought that was the thing to do and ended up falling over into the bass drum at one point. I think I’m more mature now but it’s still fond memories …”

Enter Shikari, O2 Academy, Thursday February 18, £23.50, 7pm