Album Of The Week: Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt.1 — Foals
Foals return with their most ambitious project to date, and they definitely pull it off. Read what Louis MacDonald has to say.
At first listen, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt.1 is everything that a fan would want a Foals album to be. The band are pristine and technical with their provision of the trademark math-rock riffs that stay true to their roots as seen on tracks such as ‘Exits’, whilst also comfortably dealing in guitar laden bangers such as ‘On the Luna’ and slower, sweeping soulful tunes like ‘Sunday’.
Two years after the release of their last album What Went Down, Foals lost their bass player and most grounded member of the band, Walter Gervers. A a result, frontman Yannis Philippakis and keys player Edwin Congreave both shared the recording of the bass parts on their fifth and most recent release and the band have hired Everything Everything’s Jeremy Pritchard to handle bass duties at upcoming live shows. Despite this, Foals are arguably at their creative peak on this record, even after what seemed to be the peak of their careers having headlined Reading and Leeds of their fourth album What Went Down. If you thought the band were on their way to to headlining Glastonbury that does not seem to be the case this year, with them opting to headline slots at smaller festivals such as Truck and Y Not as well as playing smaller venues on their tour rather than the arenas that they’re definitely capable of rocking. Perhaps Pt 2 — the album of bangers to compliment Pt 1’s grooves — will give Foals occasion to grace the coveted Glastonbury main stage when it is released.
If Pt 1’s groovy tunes are anything to go by, the bangers to follow without a doubt should be eagerly anticipated as Pt.1 gives the listener a blistering ride already, especially on tracks such as ‘Glass Onions’.
The two albums are thematically linked through their lyrics which on this first instalment touch on important ideas in modern society such as political instability, the effects of modern technology as well as climate change. The latter subject is reflected through the albums artwork — a photo by Vicente Munoz that uses infra-red signal to contrast vegetation with the surrounding buildings which is meant to signify the struggle of nature against urban environments.
Pt.1 is experimental to a degree, yet still unmistakably Foals. Although the new material is different from before, things are never jarring and therefore it is unsurprising that the album has still been welcomed by fans. The band are just flexing their creative muscles to a slightly greater extent than normal whilst still retaining their identity and providing the classic Foals sounds that fans desire, such as the closing track, ‘I’m Done With The World (And It’s Done With Me)’. This superior creative flair has perhaps come about as a result of the band opting to self-produce this album rather than having an external producer, meaning that all musical input came from within the band. This, combined with their choice to record the album over a longer period and in Peckham, where all band members live, gives the album a confidence unlike any previous records.
In this way, the genius of the album really lies in the fact that Yannis and co. have successfully walked a very difficult path of keeping things exciting and pushing boundaries within the defined sound that they have been able to call their own for a long time. The formula has not yet become predictable and tired. Ultimately, this album hints at an exciting future and second instalment from Foals as the most exciting part of the album is when it is at its most experimental, exemplified by the prog/dance break in ‘Sunday’.
The record, and the double album project as a whole, is ambitious but Foals have proven so far that it is doable for them, as a band with the technical prowess, musicianship and chemistry. They know that they possess the potential and ability to pull it off. Perhaps this confidence is a result of everything they’ve tried their hand at in the past working for them, whether it be raw, stadium bangers like ‘Inhaler’ and ‘What Went Down’ or slower, more touching tracks such as ‘Bad Habit’, ‘Knife in the Ocean’ or most notably ‘Spanish Sahara’ — a fan favourite. With such an impressive Pt.1 from Foals, the wait for Pt.2 released in September is going to be that much more agonising, but also that much more worth it.
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