Foals
Total Life Forever
(Transgressive Records/Atlantic)
There's an elephant in the room, and it's named '
Spanish Sahara'. This is the name of the first single released from the second Foals album,
Total Life Forever, and it's a heart-melter. It's all the more remarkable considering that this British quintet's first release, 2008's
Antidotes, was characterised by dancefloor-ready beats, an abundance of needly hammer-on, pull-off riffs and an affinity with the sub-genre of 'math rock'.
'Spanish Sahara' sits in the album's centre; in turn, it forms the beating heart of Foals' revised artistic direction. In stark contrast to their previously-accessible singles, the epic song's payoff occurs over halfway into its seven-minutes. Singer Yannis Philippakis urges listeners - and himself, perhaps - to
"Forget the horror here / Leave it all down, here / It's future rust, and then it's future dust", as the song slowly builds upon a sparse introduction to climax amid an ethereal lead guitar melody, thundering tom rolls and, ultimately, a somber, circular synth pattern. Though I'm loathe to draw parallels to a younger, less accomplished act, the song's ascending arrangement can be charted in a similar manner to The Temper Trap's 'Sweet Disposition'. Whether this song will scale those same dizzying heights of ubiquity - yes, unlikely - remains to be seen. But as an artistic statement, 'Spanish Sahara' is peerless among indie pop circa 2010.
Here's the most appropriate place to drop a would-be clever foals-into-stallions pun, for
Total Life Forever is just that: a band maturing far beyond their first release toward a sound that threatens to alienate the indie kids who jumped on the
Antidotes bandwagon. Yet - if there's any justice in the musical world - they'll gain a truckload of fans who more readily align with the ‘Spanish Sahara’-led notion of 'adult contemporary'. (It won't hurt that the latter group tend to have fatter wallets, either.) Foals have shifted their sound, sure, but they're still playing within the boundaries of their abilities. As a result, this is a great album; better than the first.
Album opener 'Blue Blood' moves from a plaintive vocal intro reminiscent of Fleet Foxes, before the rhythm section eventually join Philippakis; 'Miami' sees drummer Jack Bevan hitting upon an irresistible, compact groove backed by a swinging bassline. Their trademark spindly guitar lines are never far away; the title track is characterised by anxious, palm-muted sounds and lyrics concerning immortality and the 'singularity' - so named for a book, 'The Singularity Is Near', wherein humans and machines are merged into immortal beings. It's important to point out that none of these tracks would have felt at home on
Antidotes.
Second single 'This Orient' is initially jarring; hard to place at first but ultimately revealing itself to be Foals' best shot at aping Bloc Party. Judged in those terms - and once the connection is made, it's hard to shake - it's one of the album's few weak points. In terms of immediate musical impact, though, right behind 'Spanish Sahara' is track eight, 'After Glow'. Delayed, chiming guitar phrases and distorted stabs of electronic noise punctuate Philippakis' sweetly-sung lyrics of love, loss and rediscovery (
"You were better than whatever came before / Without you here, and my heart broken to the core"), before his voice is swallowed up by a hair-raising instrumental jam. Where every song up until this point was characterised by a sense of control and restraint, this section is thrilling because it's so out-of-character. Happily, they sustain this jam for a blissful two minutes, while wordless chants ring out in the distance.
With this release, Foals have pushed back their songwriting goalposts; in doing so, they've opened more space for experimentation, and more time to explore the sounds they're capable of achieving.
Total Life Forever is a triumph; it's the sound of an indie rock band searching for meaning beyond the dancefloor, and finding it.
Andrew McMillen