review

Although not generally credited with the tag, or at least it is a tag that is widely disputed, Foals for many signified an introduction to math rock. Certainly not as focused on the development of this genre as Slint, or Sweep the Leg Johnny, or Battles (three bands which need to be checked out if not known) were or are; the band do indeed have their own roots in this particular brand of rock. Yannis and Jack are both former members of math rock group The Edumund Fitzgerald. So if not math rock, Foals (predominantly now through their obsession with angular guitar notes) are certainly math-y. In Antidotes for many this half-way-house constituted a bizarre album, flimsy and unsure of its own status or position. Whilst it charted well, and whilst it churned out memorable songs such as Red Sock Pugie and Cassius; it seemed a style that had its very definite limits. These limits are what Total Life Forever has the job of exploding, changing, or at least developing on. It does all three.

The album opener Blue Blood, does its best to ease in (as it were) experienced Foals listeners to the new verbosity and swagger on display in Total Life Forever. A looping and characteristic guitar hook is crushed out of existence by the booming and foreboding effect of the intense (and conventionally rock) bass which takes control of the song. There is something different also; is Yannis singing? So it appears. The vocals of Antidotes relied heavily upon chorused-shouting backed up and given a spine with melodic and mesmerising guitar-loops. Take Heavy Water, “We, communicate, communicate/ And she dreams of empty swings around/ We communicate/ With vampires and their guns,” – such lyrics are barely noticed unless given attention, and whilst Blue Blood is not a huge step up (Gareth Campesinos! he is not), an improvement is obvious, “Of all the people, I hope’d it’d be you/ To come and free me take me away/ To show me my home/ Where I was born/ Where I belong.” What can be in part affirmed therefore, is that Blue Blood is Heavy Water with more developed lyrics and a more conventional (and more effective) crescendo and eventual instrumental-strip-down; it is more mature. And this indeed is the theme throughout, Foals have matured, as has their sound, as has their production, as has their song development. The third single, Miami, for me in part echoes The Cure’s Boys Don’t Cry. The song structure is extremely similar, with a lulled intro and outburst of a guitar hook which is only replayed at the chorus; as well as this there is a similar lyrical theme. Where Robert Smith says, “I would tell you that I loved you/ If I thought that you would stay/ But I know that it’s no use/ That you’ve already gone away,” Yannis pens, “Oh, you betrayed me, you gave it away/ You don’t mind picking up salt/ To rub in my wounds.” It may seem a slight connection but there is certainly something Cure-y about this third single. A similar pattern is followed on the slightly more impressive title track, but lyrics remain a weak point for Yannis, “I know a face/ Who I can show my true colours/ To your arms into your arms/ I will go, when I’m low/ ‘Cause total life forever/ Will never be enough.” - With this slightly more stripped-down-style, and with more emphasis on Yannis and his singing, inevitably more focus will be placed on his lyrics. For the most part, they remain uninspiring or so dense that they appear almost to be simply slotted in there. In truth, the lyrics appear positively clumsy.

With Black Gold Foals have produced a song which is certainly single-worthy. Its hypnotic guitar and actually impressive tag line, “The future, is not what it used to be,” serve to give the song a structure and style not before created by the band. It creates an atmosphere which was either too-much-there or not-at-all-there on Antidotes perfectly, and the band impressively hold back on the all-too-obvious noise explosion which they so usually succumb to. They restrain themselves, and it is hugely to the songs benefit – as it creates a prolonged euphoria lasting for almost the entirety of the second half of the song. This same idea is replicated on leading single Spanish Sahara. Early live versions of this song emerged around April of 2009, and whilst a huge style shift was obvious, the song seemed (to me) hugely weak by virtue of Yannis’ voice not actually being that strong. He was drowned out by a talking crowd too often who simply did not recognise the song. The studio version though, is mesmerising for this same reason. There is a reverence given by the band members as they allow Yannis to ‘go it alone’ as it were, “As I see you standing there, like a lilo losing air,” (For me this line’s allure was soon rescinded when I heard the eerily similar opening line of closing track What Remains, “Oh, I see you in your cobra nest/ All dressed up in your Sunday best,” – whether this is intentional or from a lack of ability to create something completely different I am not sure) for most of the song. The song’s minimalism of this sort is matched only by the maturity by which it is developed. Intricately layered, and ultimately (like Black Gold) restrained in its explosion. (Early live versions actually had a small guitar solo from about 4:15 onwards, this is delayed until around 4:33 in the studio version, is consequentially multiplied, but then ultimately cut much shorter than the early version. It is a small, but hugely effective change which characterises the perfectionism that seems to be developing in the band’s approach.) Foals have here created a track a world away from the eventual second single This Orient, which seems to be an attempt (and a successful one) of their own type of summer-anthem. The thudding drums, auto-tuned vocals, chorused intricacies and harmonies ooze of the type of brilliance Foals can achieve when it all ‘clicks’, “It’s your heart, your heart/ That gives me, this Western feeling.”

From Spanish Sahara, through This Orient, Fugue and After Glow Foals have crushed in the middle of their second album, their most impressive song sequence. Each acts as a blazon to their developing range of abilities. From Spanish Sahara’s moving development, to This Orient’s intensity, to Fugue’s slight turn into a light sort of psychedelica, to After Glow’s passion and chants in unison; here is a sequence which (to plagiarise a term) form a palisade of songs which answer the critics of Antidotes. The remaining three songs are in effect a recovery from the preceding four, a grand, melodic, strung-out and stripped down wind down, “So you my dear, shouldn’t fear what lies below/ It’s just bones. / And I’ve been to the darkest place you know/ It’s just bones.”

Ultimately, Foals have become more conventional on Total Life Forever. They have made their sound more user-friendly. They have ventured more often to the actual bottom ends of their guitars. They have decided to giving singing a chance, and to develop some decently worded lyrics. A step towards conventionality does not always bode well for bands who form cultish followings in the way Foals have – but this slight mature step by Yannis, Jack, Edwin, Walter and Jimmy has more than enough about it to arrest hardened listeners, and to capture new ones – they are a better band for it.

As with rap albums, singing/lyrical band-based albums such as these need to be evaluated in their own way. For me a good way of rating albums such as these is by rating Lyrics (/10), Instrumentation (/10) and Production (/10). Therefore:

Lyrics – 5/10

Instrumentation – 8/10

Production – 9/10

Therefore I would give this album 73%.