Items in Basket: 0
Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2

Foals

Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 2

Label: Warner Bros

Genre: Rock / Pop

Availability

  • CD €15.99
    Out of Stock
Foals’ creative ambition for ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1’ resulted in a striking state-of-the-world-address of an album in which apocalyptic lyrical themes were equalled by the sheer impact of the music. It emerged as an immediate album of the year contender, with many hailing it as the finest moment in a consistently critically- acclaimed career. That status was cemented when it was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize last week.

Now Foals complete that artistic statement with the October 18th release of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’. The album has been launched with the lead track ‘Black Bull’, which is Annie Mac’s Hottest Record in the World.

“Part two is a heavier listen, the guitars are more emphasised and there’s some big riffs on it,” explained Philippakis in an interview with NME. “It’s a rock record and it definitely carries on the narrative from part one. Part one ended with a lot of fire and destructive imagery, part two is trying to respond to that: how you can continue in the wreckage and through the scorched earth? We’re just excited for people to hear it because it completes the journey of what we’ve made over the last year-and-a-half.”

Whereas ‘Part 1’ melded Foals’ disparate influences into a thrilling melting pot of sounds, much of ‘Part 2’ simmers with pure visceral intensity. ‘The Runner’ and ‘Black Bull’ are streamlined attacks, with vehement rhythmic onslaughts the foundation for even bigger riffs. It’s an approach that also informs ‘10,000 Feet’, as it lurches ominously from dreamy soundscapes into a heavyweight collision of post-punk and psychedelia.

Yet ‘Part 2’ also echoes the opening chapter’s eclectic nature. The cinematic instrumentals ‘Red Desert’ and ‘Ikaria’ underline that ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ is a journey rather than a mere collection of songs, while ‘Wash Off’ marries manic world music-tinged grooves with a punk-like intensity.

And while ‘Part 2’ extends its predecessor’s exploration of contemporary concerns – toxic masculinity in ‘Black Bull’, humanity’s dependency on tech in ‘Wash Off’ – the overall tone is set by ‘The Runner’, which hones in on the importance of fighting back against the odds. That defiance detours into tenderly romantic territory with ‘Into The Surf’ before the 10-minute ‘Neptune’ – somehow feeling like both a requiem and an elegy – brings proceedings to a close in exploratory yet emotive style.

This album, like ‘Part 1’, was produced by Foals themselves: Yannis Philippakis (vocals/guitar), Jimmy Smith (guitar), Jack Bevan (drums) and Edwin Congreave (keys), with Philippakis and Congreave contributing bass too.