More about: Foals

From a quintet to a trio, cult math-rock enthusiasts to arena-ready indie giants – the evolution of Foals over the last 15 years has been incredible to witness. 

Having just completed a huge UK arena tour, attention now turns to what should be a career-defining summer for the Oxford outfit. Not only is their highly-anticipated seventh studio album Life Is Yours out this week (17 June), but they have huge festival headline slots lined up too. There are a lot of factors that have contributed to their success over the years, however possibly the biggest one is the consistency of their output.

From their debut Antidotes right up to Life Is Yours, Foals have hardly put a foot wrong, progressing with each record to become masters of their craft. However, what’s most impressive is the catalogue of songs they have built up over that time – whether it’s radio-friendly summer bangers or epic seven to 10-minute-long album closers, Foals have kept ahead of their contemporaries through always delivering.

So, before Life Is Yours drops later this week, let’s take a chronological journey through the underrated tracks that can be found within their discography.

'Astronauts and All'

Before Antidotes, Foals earned plenty of buzz off their electric early singles. From 'Hummer', which came with its own dance routine, through to breakout behemoths 'Balloons' and 'Cassius', Foals arrived as a fresh addition to the growing late '00s math-rock scene.

Lurking as a B-side during this period was 'Astronauts and All', a song which deserves as much recognition as the singles for helping to establish Foals’ early sonic DNA. With its siren-like electronics, hard-hitting drums, jazzy math-rock melody and Yannis’ vocal cries of “Make It Happen”, it’s an early hidden gem.

'Big Big Love (Fig.2)'

Another song that originally started life as a B-side, 'Big Big Love (Fig.2)' was later refined into the final version that appeared on Antidotes. 

Although Foals’ later albums have always found a good balance between upbeat and softer tracks, 'Big Big Love' was left isolated as the only blissfully subdued moment on the whole record. It also had the unfortunate placement of following the ever-present live set phenomenon that is 'Two Steps, Twice' in the album’s tracklist. As a result, this song can often be overlooked when it comes to choosing Antidotes favourites but for me, it’s still one of the finest songs on their debut.

'Total Life Forever'

Looking through Foals’ top songs on streaming platforms, it seems sophomore effort Total Life Forever doesn’t get as much love as the others. Although it earned the band their first of three Mercury Prize nominations and is home to one of their best loved songs in 'Spanish Sahara', a lot of the deeper cuts on the album seem to be further down the pecking order. One of the songs I was particularly surprised to see so far down was the album’s stellar title track, with its brilliant mantra-like vocal harmonies and wonderfully rhythmic guitars.  

'Wear & Tear'

With the Total Life Forever era getting overlooked, it also means that an excellent B-side like 'Wear & Tear' is really falling by the wayside. Almost a spiritual sequel to 'Red Socks Pugie', Yannis softly sings of helium hearts being blown apart against some plucky guitars. It builds steadily throughout, eventually erupting into a typically glistening climax – pure bliss.

'Out of the Woods'

Third album Holy Fire is not only Foals’ best album to date, but it is also home to some of their biggest and greatest singles too. From the colossal, earth-shattering riffs of 'Inhaler', the funky pop grooves of 'My Number' to the stunning moonlit balladry of 'Late Night', it is littered with career-defining moments. However, with so many huge singles to be found, it does mean that the album’s final single, 'Out of the Woods', is left slightly underappreciated. Tinged with strings and early '90s The Cure influence, it’s immensely catchy, hugely uplifting and just utterly majestic.

'Stepson'

Another Holy Fire cut that doesn’t get enough love is the album’s penultimate track, 'Stepson'. Arriving after the fierce savagery of live favourite 'Providence', by comparison 'Stepson' is at the other end of Foals’ sonic spectrum. Beautifully understated and atmospheric, you can’t help but get lost in the bluesy instrumentation as Yannis perfectly matches the song’s sonic aesthetic with lyrical imagery of someone falling deep down into a watery abyss. Sublime.

'Give It All'

Love songs certainly aren’t the first thing you think of when it comes to Foals, but you will find several scattered throughout their discography. 'Give It All' from their brilliant fourth album What Went Down is easily the best of the lot, and really deserves recognition for lyrically being one of the finest songs Yannis has ever written, as well as containing one of his most stirring vocal performances. The heartbreak that pours out of the track is palpable, meaning few songs in their catalogue pack an emotional punch quite like this one.

'Lonely Hunter'

If you have watched the Crème Anglaise documentary chronicling the making of What Went Down, you’ll know that 'Lonely Hunter' was one of the last songs to be completed for the record. At one point, Yannis openly discloses the pressure he is under to find the right lyrics to complete the song and thus finish the album in time. Under that immense pressure, Yannis wrote one of the album’s most memorable lines that forged the song’s central refrain: “just remember, love is the gun in your hand.” Once you know the context, you can’t help but have a greater appreciation for this song.

'Syrups'

Releasing two self-produced albums in the same year was an ambitious feat that could have easily gone wrong, yet Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost found Foals flourishing. Through splitting that project into two distinct parts, it brought a cohesiveness that they often lacked due to their heavily eclectic style. 

Part 1 was the more electronic side, featuring big hitting singles like 'In Degrees', 'On The Luna' and 'Exits'. Despite this, the album’s grand centrepiece is 'Syrups', which is built on a dazzling wave of whirring synths and stuttering riffs. With the tempo suddenly switching up midway through, the full throttle second half is completely exhilarating.

'Wash Off'

Across both parts of Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, Foals serve-up bangers aplenty such as riff-tastic anthem 'The Runner' and ferocious heavy rock belter 'Black Bull'. If 'Wash Off' had appeared on an earlier release it likely would’ve been the star of the show but coming out on Part 2 it got slightly lost in the mix, to the point where it wasn’t even included on their recent tour setlist. Don’t sleep on this one though, as it features some of their most mesmerising and infectious guitar work to date.

'Into The Surf'

One of the things Foals accomplish with their music better than anyone is the marriage of sounds and words, with 'Spanish Sahara' the pinnacle on this front. The way the song’s production aligns with the sonic textures being woven and the imagery being painted in the lyrics is absolute perfection.

'Spanish Sahara' is always going to be hard to beat, but with 'Into The Surf', Foals come close to replicating that magic. As Yannis vividly describes moonpools on fire and jasmine garlands in the sea, the xylophone and piano-driven instrumentation synchronises perfectly for a spellbinding listening experience.

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More about: Foals