Music
Album of the Week
Album of the Week: Foals
Inside their sixth studio album, the conclusion to their ambitious two-part project, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2.
Foals sixth studio album Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2 – the hugely anticipated follow-up to March’s Mercury Prize-nominated Part 1, sees the Oxford four-piece embark on an exploratory journey into darker new territory.
The Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost project is certainly their most ambitious and perhaps unconventional creation to date. Recorded simultaneously, the two releases are compelling and cohesive. Though bound together by similar themes, each is also considered a separate entity.
“They’re two halves of the same locket, they can be listened to and appreciated individually, but fundamentally, they are companion pieces.” says vocalist Yannis Philippakis
Part 2 will be accompanied by a documentary Rip Up the Road – showcasing the recording process, as well as the 2019 tour dates that followed, and is due for release in November exclusively via Amazon Prime.
The sequel – the artwork for which was shot by famed National Geographic photographer, Maggie Steber – is full of catchy hooks, contagious melodies, and powerful vocals.
It’s darker and grittier than its predecessor, and there are some experimental shifts in tempo thanks to a few stadium-ready rock ballads, heavy prog-inspired riffs and a tender piano-led interlude, Ikaria.
It moves seamlessly between the melancholy and heavier tracks, complete with monster vocals.
![FOALS - Like Lightning [Official Audio]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/fAzZAJgV4KA/0.jpg)
The cinematic instrumentals of opener of Red Desert, the primal howls and twangy pop riffs of The Runner and the bass-heavy and moody vibes of 10,000 Ft are all thrilling and unique.
Inviting you into the swell, Into The Surf nods back to Part One’s Surf Pt.1 and Wash Off offers a twitchy, quick-paced and upbeat pop riff, which soon makes way for the relentless thunder of drums and galloping rage of Black Bull – an uncompromising fuzzy guitar hook, punctured by Philippakis’ discernable wails.
Neptune is the perfect album closer. A sultry, echoing 10-minute epic, a brooding masterpiece worthy of its extended length.
Part 2 feels bolder and more brutal than the records that have come before it, an experimental triumph where the risky idea to split 20 recorded tracks into two albums of 10 has well and truly paid off. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost showcases Foals at their best – pioneering, passionate and persevering.
See Foals live across the UK in 2020. Tickets will be available from 9:30 on Friday 25 October 2019 [Find out more here]
Tracklisting:
1. Red Desert
2. The Runner
3. Wash Off
4. Black Bull
5. Like Lightning
6. Dreaming Of
7. Ikaria
8. 10,000 Ft.
9. Into the Surf
10. Neptune
Listen to Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2 on Spotify:
