Foals- Total Life Forever

So, it’s finally here, the second offering from Foals, and by God, have they grown up! Not only have they significantly developed musically but lyrically too, they are far from the repetitive riffs and nonsensical lyrics of their debut delivery.
The dance tones remain and are mixed with groovy bass lines (for example, in the song, ‘Black Gold’) and experimental instrumentation. The fact that they have been more experimental with this album is evident, as tracks range from 48 seconds to the 7 minute mark (such as Spanish Sahara, their debut single from the album). However, unlike some of their musical peers, you certainly don’t begin to question whether they’ve been overindulgent, like the controversial second MGMT album for example. The Britpop influence is still evident and there are still catchy hooks like there was in their debut.

Foals have come back lyrically stronger, yet they still seem inseparable from the device of repetition, but it seems to work more in their favour. The repetition of the lyric “I’m the ghost in the back of your head” captures the haunting ambience of the song ‘Spanish Sahara’ and the rich pop chorus of their current single ‘The Orient’ creates a platform for them into the more commercial airwaves. The latter, fitting in with the ‘world’ theme that the album appears to possess, both rhythmically and lyrically with its Balearic drum beats and location references.

The lyrics “The future is not what it used to be” from their song ‘Black Gold’ suggests growth and realisation, these both are apparent. It seems that the band have realised perhaps that their songs don’t always have to be fast all of the time, tempos can be experimented with and varying tempo can make an album more interesting and exciting. This album is filled with enchanting dramatic breakdowns, pure musical talent and enough bizarre computer generated sounds than you can shake a stick at. This is a purely spellbinding album that will really excite the listener’s imagination.






Katie x