Foals - Life Is Yours

Foals have been an ever present at the top table of UK alternative music for almost 15 years now. Even for the greatest bands, though, there comes a time when they need a reset. A time to shake things up and look to the future. Determined to party their way out of the misery of the pandemic a lean, mean and pop invigorated Foals have re-emerged on their summer soundtracking seventh album ‘Life Is Yours’.

Now a trio, Yannis, Jack and Jimmy have harnessed all the energy and vitality that they’ve always possessed into a whipsmart tight collection that is powered by the spirit of their early days and their incendiary debut ‘Antidotes’ but with a ramped up pop sensibility that feels very 2022. Songs like the Haribo burst sugar rush of ‘2001’ and the blissed out ecstatic vibes of ‘Looking High’ highlight an album that is a world away from the introspective post rocky leanings of their 2019 double album. It’s a different side of Foals but a side that’s always been there, it’s just this time out they’ve decided to give the riffs a rest for a while and amp up the party jams. Working in collaboration with a number of exciting producers like mad alt pop scientist of the moment Dan Carey and AK Paul have brought out a looseness and vibrancy in the band that makes this album their easiest listen and perhaps even their most satisfying.

It would be easy for a band like Foals to make just another album. Another record that provides big riffs and helps to keep the wheels turning. Instead, they’ve taken a risk, switched things up and in going back to their roots have captured the zeitgeist and created a rebirth which points the way towards a new era for Foals.