This is my first
ever album review in English. I hope, though, that not the last. So, this time,
I am going to review the latest Foals’ album, released in 2013, “Holy Fire”,
which was the step forward for the band, that got them big. Personally, I found
Foals back in autumn of 2012 and was really excited to find out, that they are
soon to release a new album. Yet, when I first heard the actual album, starting
with proper hits, such as “Inhaler” and “My Number”, I was, to say it honestly,
a little bit disappointed, since the band seemed to go mainstream and become
very big. Some songs sounded at first quite boring and mediocre, poppy, and
made attractive for the majority of people. That does not excite me at all.
Yet, after some time, while I was getting done with my last review, I thought a
lot about these reviews I will be posting in my blog, and this was going to be
the album I surely wanted to write about in the first place. And the review I planned
was a negative one. However, a year has passed since the release. And here I
am, writing this. And now, after all, it seems to be totally different to me
from what I saw there back then, when I first heard the album. So, this review
is not what I wanted to write, but something, that I think of right now. So,
let us begin.
The first song, “Prelude”,
already in its name holds its genuine meaning for this album – it starts the
thing. So, how would a start sound? The album kicks off slowly, but rapidly
gains speed and energy, like collecting it from the sun, something wet and warm
here, guitars rise and drums keep the pace in the right way, then the stop and
then we get this big feeling, and hard rock elements, distort (on the bass, now
that was massive) hit us hard here. There is almost no clear lyrics here, what
seems rather strange, but, it nicely goes in line with the tradition of adding
a short instrumental among true songs, it all started with “Like Swimming”, and
then we saw “Fugue”, and now here we go with another, yet this one is far more
prominent, deep, and sounds like, well, massive. It already indicates something
new is going to be there in this album. This is a different sound, a massive,
hard, wild, savage sound.
The second song,
the stadium-rocker “Inhaler”, after all, has become probably the most knows
Foals song to date. It was the first song off the album, I had heard. And it
left me, along with a bunch of Foals fans, with, actually, mixed feelings, on
one hand, I liked the hardness in it, on the other hand, it felt a little bit
too direct, not that gentle breeze in “Total Life Forever”. This was big; the
guitars slowly carve their way to the chorus, which blows your brain out in a
single-worded demand for “SPACE”. It is said, that frontman Yannis Philipakis,
wrote this song about being in the London subway, feeling stuck. Oh, I know
that feeling, in every full bus. The hard rock guitars maybe are strange in the
context of this album, yet they always remind me of “Mathletics”, the breakdown
in it, after all. And that mix of a high pitched and a “rock” guitar is unique.
The chorus is really powerful. The song is really tight and strong, always
ready to explode, when reaching boiling point, and then it is still the epic
sound, without which you could not imagine Foals, “So can you not go away, you,
just for one day?” – sings Yannis and shouts of despair in a fight for personal
freedom and space. It only looks banal, after all.
The third song, “My
Number”, is another hit. At first, I absolutely did not appreciate this song.
Well, it sounds pop, it sounds rather, well, banal. “You don't have my number”,
REALLY? So shallow. But now I get that meaning, “You don’t have my number, we
don't need each other now, creed, or the culture, we could move beyond it now”
sounds like a logical follow-up to “Inhaler” lyrically... And you have to
choose one person instead of a crowd. Be confident. Is that banal? The guitars
and bass in this sounds really interesting, a bit strange, math rock bits, and
this reminds you of art rock.
The fourth song,
“Bad Habit” is completely different take, with its mathy guitar sound, just
like the previous song, and some heavy synth, and percussion. The whole feeling
is so fresh and wonderful, some sort of morning, when you wake up and know you
are going to go on a long trip you have long dreamed of, you pack your bags,
brush your teeth, and go out in to the fresh air. Lyrically, this song begins a
topic that is quite prominent in this album. It is about getting rid of your
past mistakes and moving on in life. Some religious motives present as well,
what is new for the lyrics of the band, known for being rather obscure and
really not that direct as we hear here. “I made my mistakes, and I feel
something changed, wash the stains away, and I feel quite O.K.” says Yannis
with some emotion. And the song goes into swirling guitars and percussion.
Buckets of drums. Roll through your head. Something reminding of the bright “This
Orient”.
The fifth song, “Everytime”,
is another kind of poppy song. It still has that summer excitement, present on
the song before though, but is a bit too drawn out. It features some funky rhythms
and interesting percussion. Warm and calm.
The sixth song,
and another single, “Late Night”, is something totally unexpected – after such
warm laid back songs like “Everytime”, here you go into midnight solitude, with
some distant Rhodes piano notes, followed by guitar. The album all of a sudden
shows its other face, dark and deep, cold. No more dancefloor hits, here is
true emotion. The post rock sound is always on the horizon, but in this song it
is the most obvious. And your heart stops for a second, when Yannis says “Stay
with me”. And then the song goes into a big culmination, and then there goes
the slow, drawn out ending, that leaves you a few seconds to get back to
feeling alright after all that has happened. The song, of course, instantly
reminds you of “Spanish Sahara”, but this one is very subtle, but more
prevailing, more straightforward. You get that late night feeling, the one you
really do not want to get anymore, the last notes are gloomy.
The seventh
song, “Out Of the Woods”, is a relief for you. After the bitter sadness of “Late
Night”, here you get back to the warm side of the album. The lyrics are
awesome. “It was just a dream, the most beautiful place I've seen” is just so
striking. The percussion solo is another new thing. And this song really helps
you feel better. Refreshing and bright.
The eighth song
is another one of that warm side, “Milk & Black Spiders”. Its swirling
rhythms, slow build up and massive strings sounding in the very easy to
remember chorus, after all, gets your attention very well, and then there is
the epic breakdown. That is the best use of the sound, that emerged with this
album, the song, after all, is, as well, quite drawn out and long, but how can
you say is as a disadvantage in such case, after all? The deep sound and
resonant voice of Yannis with the bassist Walter giving superb back vocals as
well, add to that the strings of London Contemporary Orchestra. Interesting
drumming and good lyrics.
The ninth song, “Providence”,
gets us back to the start, namely, “Prelude”, so, here we go again. That sounds
is here, but here it sounds, to say the least, very capturing. It is even
tighter than “Inhaler”, absolutely holds you breathless for the whole 4
minutes. And the drums breakdown with synth and guitar, it is a complete top of
the whole album. So, here we go with the thirds side, the
wild-hard-heavy-dramatic sound of the first two songs. One of the best tracks
on the album.
The tenth song,
once again, does not make us dance again, no, it is time to sit back and relax.
Another cold post rock take, “Stepson”. The sound is really something quite
strange for me, and again, we have strings in it for the full excitement, wait,
there is no excitement here, at least, in a sense, that was useful for others
songs, only a slow soul-piercing sound with rather personal lyrics. We are
again lonely in a desolated place, alone, see no one there. The song is the
most subtle. Once again, we get that familiar “Total Life Forever” sound (personally,
I remember “Alabaster”), but, here it goes in a rather weird, and unexpected
direction. Samples instead of real drums is something new.
The eleventh
song, “Moon” is the last and probably the best. If “Stepson” did not put you to
sleep, then this one surely can finish that job. Once again, the post rock
sound, the guitar and Rhodes piano, the painful calm. The big moment, where it
all turns into a big loud wow, is simply unmatched. And then it goes on with
reverb, until it is really the end.
Foals:
http://www.foals.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/Foals
https://soundcloud.com/foals
Get the album here:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/foals/id192738057
