Can you believe it’s been six whole years since Holy Fire? Six years since that hot, hot summer, covering up an otherwise shitty year full of war and natural disaster. 2013 was my first proper festival experience: a simpler time, an exciting time to be alive and part of something bigger. I remember more hype around Foals than perhaps any of the other non-headliners at Reading. The band had great poise, great energy; they put work into their set and earned a headline slot within three years. The future looked bright.
I caught Foals in 2015, too, while they still drew enough excitement for a secret set in Reading’s Radio 1/NME tent. What Went Down had just come out. A little inconsistent, maybe, but full of good tunes. It was worth going to. It had a point.
Four years later, one has to wonder: who was asking for this album? What motivation led to this moment in which Foals decided to reannounce themselves into music? Did this gap need to be filled? Regrettably, the album just sort of is. It lacks the fight that pushed Foals up the lineup all those years ago. Second track ‘Exits’ would be fun if it had the energy of Holy Fire behind it, would be cool if it could just commit to its swagger. But instead it chooses to middle, to loiter at the start of the album without conviction. Opener ‘Moonlight’ begins well, with a range of interesting effects that demand attention. Sadly, by the end of the song you find yourself convinced this is just a cheap gesture towards Protomartyr or some other such Edgar Allen Poe character.
The start of the album seems to represent an crisis of identity for Foals. The album can’t seem to get comfortable, can’t distance itself from nostalgia long enough to commit to something new. And then, as if becoming self aware, the album finally takes a breath. It asks: “Why am I here? What is my purpose?”
The last two minutes of ‘In Degrees’ aren’t that bad. ‘Syrups’ is pretty good. Again, you start to wonder what led to the writing of this album, but hold that thought. Towards the back end of the album, Foals start to settle on something. You try to imagine somebody five years from now pestering the DJ for this at some student night in Wigan. It’s not that album. It’s not the Foals that gave us ‘My Number’, ‘Inhaler’, ‘What Went Down’… but once it does begin to find form, it’s quite listenable.
‘Sunday’ is my stand out track, a lazy, warm song, not arsed about what some uninspired reporter thinks about it. The last few tracks save the album with new focus and sincerity. The mood resonates. The lyrics hit their target. Vocally, ‘Sunday’ doesn’t seem rushed or overdone.
All in all, the album feels a little misplaced, still working through a few issues ahead of the band’s 15 year anniversary. It’s an album to reflect upon as the decade nears its end. Who were we then, and who will we be tomorrow?
Words by James Reynolds