Photo Credit: Edward Cooke
Atmospheric indie mainstays Foals have renewed a new lease of life, one which they lived out on their 2008 debut Antidote. Where Antidote tapped into the dancey rhythms of Red Socks Pugie and the fun-filled grooves of Olympia Airways, Foals have dusted off their dancing shoes fourteen years later and swept the dance floor they once departed, for an album full of bliss melodies, sun-soaked vocals and clear blue waves of joyous escapism. One that feels like beaches away from the dark, shadowed sun tones of the band’s Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost–era, trading in its colder, serious climates for warmer, carefree landscapes on Life Is Yours.
Going into a new album two members down has the potential to dent any band’s shine, but with Life Is Yours Foals have come out brighter on the other side. Opener and title track Life Is Yours commences the celebration of new beginnings, as the song shimmers in funky baselines, hazy vocals and upbeat drum patterns, enough to ignite the fire on that dance floor just a mere few minutes into the album.
Wake Me Up continues the party, the conga growing in length the further we get down through the album’s tracklist. “I’m walking through a dream/I’m walking through the finest place I’ve ever seen,” sings vocalist Yannis Phillippakis with pleasure, who later on finds himself “Dancing on the mountains” and “Dancing on the tiles,” painting the picture for a perfect pre-night out jam to get you right in the joyous mood. If you attended Foals‘ headline set on The Other Stage at Glastonbury last weekend, you would have seen it pop off in full blown party style down on Worthy Farm.
Oozing with pop sensibilities, single 2am is, on the surface, a playful tune full of shiny guitar riffs. However, under the guise of having a good time on nights out hitting the town until 2am, the lyrics open up an alternative universe that exhibits a continuous cycle of self-destruction, struggling to dig your way out of that deep, dark hole.
From a very late 2am to taking it back to the early noughties, 2001 is a nostalgic look back for Foals. Before the world even knew who Foals were, they were young, carefree and innocent to the popularity that would engross them come the turn of 2008 and beyond. With an infectious, funk swagger to its basslines and getting “lost in a sugar rush,” presumably down on Brighton beach, 2001 is Foals’ throwback anthem, doused in plenty of memories for the now three-piece.
Elsewhere on the album, Under The Radar has an 80’s synth pop sound that wouldn’t look out of place besides the Pet Shop Boys, New Order or Depeche Mode. There is a hive of bustling and business on The Sound and on album closer Wild Green, Foals flirt with dynamic electronics that have the potential to pack out nightclubs up and down the country.
Serving as the ultimate summer soundtrack, Life Is Yours is Foals’ party hard album. Lacking rock grit, unlike Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, but livening it up with indie synths made for the masses, Foals are bringing the party of the century, telling you to seize the moment with both hands on Life Is Yours.
8.5/10
Standout Tracks: Wake Me Up, 2am, 2001, Under The Radar, The Sound, Life Is Yours, Wild Green
For Fans Of: Sundara Karma, Two Door Cinema Club, New Order
Written by: Katie Conway-Flood
