The new Foals album, Total Life Forever, seems to be an album from a completely different band. Gone is the chaotic edginess that populated most of Antidotes. Instead, the frenetic energy that made that album has been replaced with a deeper understanding of song structure and the ability to piece something together that still has a high level of energy but doesn't sound like an angsty group of yoofs. Their giant leap in maturity has resulted in an album that is still incredibly dance friendly but also far more emotional than their debut and so well played that it's hard to believe that this band is still so young.
Answering the question who would replace the New Fast Automatic Daffodils, Foals have created a groove centered record whose songs attack from all sides and conquer your mind with a solid dose of angularity and a slice of darkness for good measure. Total Life Foreveris a weird record that at times is hard to nail down because you're left wondering if this is indeed the same band that wrote, "Cassius," or some other group who've stolen their singer. It's unusual, dreamy, angular, and lost in it's on little world, which judging by the cover, is underwater.
Paying no heed to trends or sounds, Foals have carved out their own niche and their own path and have done so with a magnificent record. Total Life Forever is the sound of a band growing up and finding itself making important music that we need to hear. It's hazy and ethereal nature is a joy to behold and the fact that the band has been swept up by all this is magnificent. I read somewhere that Foals where one of the most important bands around today and after two very impressive albums I think I might agree. This is a band that's refusing to sit still; a band that's pushing themselves to develop and mature into something far greater than the sum of their parts. Total Life Forever is the second step in that journey and they've already come a long way...sometime around album four the rest of the world might catch up.
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