Total Life Forever

For many bands, a second album release is the turning point of a music career. The sophomore record is either heralded as a great extension of an earlier effort, highlighting the development of a band’s musical muscles or disregarded as being sub-par, a weaker throwback to the earlier debut. The ‘Sophomore Jinx’ is something that Foals inevitably face with new release Total Life Forever. With the critical and commercial success debut album Antidotes received, Foals have something to prove not only to themselves, but to music consumers and critics.

Luckily, Total Life Forever manages to triumph over the dreaded Jinx, expanding upon the alternative-indie sound that the band created within their debut, yet in a much more refined, subtle manner. Most notably, the record marks a shift in front man Yannis Philippakis’ vocal style, exchanging the rough yelps of Antidote for a smoother tone and tongue. It is this shift in presentation that appears so consistently throughout the record and something that injects a certain freshness into the band’s sound. In terms of the record’s make-up, Total Life Forever roots itself in the intricate pairing of both melancholic lyrics with atmospheric, lively compositions, with the anti-climaxes, peaks and crescendos colouring the debut throughout. Intense at times, yes, but Foals manage to merge all these aspects so effortlessly that it is still an enjoyable listen.

‘Blue Blood’ launches the album at a slow-pace but quickly gains momentum as it progresses, gradually introducing a mesh of bass riffs, sharp beats and finely tuned synths. It is this steady amalgamation of sounds that occurs so frequently on the record, with standout track ‘Spanish Sahara’ perfecting the layering of different tones. Raw and stripped at the start, ‘Spanish Sahara’ fights against itself for musical control, resulting in an intense crescendo of sound at the midpoint of the song. ‘Miami’ is a funky indie song that can only be described as slick. ‘Total Life Forever’ contains neat rock riffs and a chanted vocal that just begs to be echoed by the masses around the festival scene this coming summer.

Total Life Forever is a sterling effort by Foals to explore and extend their indie-alternative base. It is the attention to detail, the intricacy of composition, and the fluctuating sound of the record that makes this sophomore effort a true success.