News

Foals Winter Tour

• 22nd Jul 2010

May 10th saw Foals return with their much-anticipated second album Total Life Forever. After much critical acclaim, the band and their latest album have now been nominated for the 2010 Barclaycard Mercury Prize – An Album of the Year.

Total Life Forever was recorded during late 2009 in Gothenburg, Sweden, by Luke Smith (Clor), and was mixed by wild man Alan Moulder in London 2010. By choosing to record in the labyrinthine Svenska Grammofon Studion, the band were intent on ridding themselves of distractions. Isolated but close-knit, they worked for two months, honing their dynamic musicality. The restless guitars of Foals’ debut are remembered only in fragments. Gone are the fast rhythms and distinctive yelps of Antidotes – the pace on Total Life Forever is less breakneck, but the grooves are deeper and tighter. Vast soundscapes and oceanic sonic depth distinguish this album as a huge progression.

Total Life Forever is a sound as persuasive emotionally as Antidotes was physically. Whereas the latter constantly reinforced its own presence by filling the air with yelping and polyrhythm, songs on the new album – such as disarming opener ‘Blue Blood’, ‘Two Trees’ and the astonishing ‘Black Gold’ – are happier to leave gaps for the mind’s eye and ear to explore. 'Alabaster' is the shell of a song, stripped of its flesh and soaked in natural reverb, giving space for a joyous, anthemic chorus. Emotional highlight 'Spanish Sahara' builds from a still, dry space, into a hazy, hallucinatory landscape, climaxing into a rush of shimmering guitars and keys. Pop gem 'Miami' retains the band's homespun interweaving riffs and rabid drumming, inspired and loosened by the bliss and sway of classic Balearic disco.

Upcoming UK Tour Dates

28 Aug 2010 – Leeds Festival – Leeds
29 Aug 2010 – Reading Festival – Reading
3 Sep 2010 – Electric Picnic – Ireland
29 October 2010 – O2 Academy – Leeds
30 Oct 2010 – The Academy – Manchester
31 Oct 2010 –HMV Picture House –Edinburgh
2 Nov 2010 –O2 Academy – Glasgow
3 Nov 2010 – O2 Academy – Birmingham
4 Nov 2010 – O2 Academy – Bristol
6 Nov 2010 – Rock City – Nottingham
7 Nov 2010 – Guildhall – Southampton
8 Nov 2010 – The Dome – Brighton
10 Nov 2010 – UEA – Norwich
11 Nov 2010 – Engine Shed – Lincoln
12 Nov 2010 – O2 Academy – Brixton
10 Dec 2010 – All Tomorrow’s Parties – Somerset