Welcome to my web shrine dedicated to the British independent rock band Foals. I have been a fan since 2013 and their music has brought me joy, inspiration, and great memories with loved ones. I've seen them four times in concert and had a blast at each event. While I adore and constantly listen to their studio recordings, I think they shine brightest as a live act! Their energy, artistry, and precision (especially on those math-y rhythms) always impress.
Hopefully you'll learn a little bit about my favourite band and come away with a few new tracks for your playlist. Thanks for visiting! (BTW, the layout is inspired by this tour poster ft. album art by Mike Lythgoe.)
Jukebox
Feel free to enjoy some of my favourite Foals tunes as you scroll the page! my taste is objectively correct
History
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Albums
Antidotes (2008)
Foals' first album is frantic and cryptic and a little bit weird, and I love that about it. It's pure math rock and set the foundations of their sound; while Foals now lean more into art, progressive, and dance rock, those precise and complicated rhythms persist in their music today. There are a lot of classic bangers on this one that excite me when they show up at concerts!
Favourite tracks:
Total Life Forever (2010)
Total Life Forever might be Foals' most well-known album to general fans of indie music. Ironically, it's my least favourite one — though that assessment is very much relative here, because I still enjoy it a lot. It has an overall more sombre tone with a few tracks that are beachy and upbeat. This record in particular has some lovely and poetic lyrics that have stuck in my head for years.
Favourite tracks:
Holy Fire (2013)
My favourite album, of Foals and in general, partly for nostalgic reasons; it was the one that made me fall in love with the band back in 2013 and the first tour I attended. It features a mixture of intense riffs, wistful soundscapes, and unguarded lyrics that really scratch an itch for me. I love music with strong emotion behind it, and Holy Fire feels cathartic to listen to all the way through, from the intense buildup of Prelude to the final bittersweet moments of Moon.
Favourite tracks:
What Went Down (2015)
A solid era for Foals and my third-favourite of their albums. By this point, Foals have really ironed out their sound, and it shows in the polish on these tracks. Between chill grooves and chunky riffs, it's a record that gets me moving. Also, the way it opens with What Went Down and the impact of those first three guitar chords piercing the quiet...MWAH. Chef's kiss. 🤌
Favourite tracks:
Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost — Part I (2019)
It's almost like some things happened since What Went Down that might have inspired an album's worth of anxiety about the world...can't think of what they might have been. 🙃 Somehow, Foals managed to conjure catchy tunes out of that dread — though many with a circular quality that emulates racing thoughts. This is also when they started to make more dance rock tracks and proved adept at it.
Favourite tracks:
Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost — Part II (2019)
My second-favourite Foals album and probably their best work from an objective standpoint. The release of that tension built up in Part I, Part II is a raging bull that knocks down all in its path with fury and spunk — then, after quieting down, settles into an epic denouement in the form of Neptune. The tracks stand on their own, but you get even more out of it when enjoying them in order. 11/10, peak shit.
Favourite tracks:
Life is Yours (2022)
A primarily dance rock album with fun and groovy tunes to brighten up a world that sorely needed it at the time. You won't find the aggressive sounds of Inhaler or Black Bull on Life is Yours; instead, it builds on what Foals established with tracks like In Degrees and On the Luna. It's a great record to pop on when you need to inject some good vibes into your day!
Favourite tracks:Shows
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Lyrics
Foals' lyricism has often inspired me on my creative projects...and sometimes their songs are just really pretty. So here's a tribute to some of my favourite lines! Click on the highlighted word to open the source on YouTube.
Oh, to dream this all off
In the islands of the mind
The places they can't find
There's a lighthouse in the dark
A garden in the past
Under bruisings of a night sky
You're my compass and my sea
Oh, now the sun is up
Eyes like the sky
Lost in a sugar rush
Violet high
Cause if I go
Where the flowers grow
Into the deep below
Would you forget me now?
I'm an animal just like you
So come row me away
On black rivers and rainbows
To Neptune, where I can stay
Oh, hell no
these vessels our heart swells up
which welcome these heart swells up
which make us explode
It's future rust and it's future dust
...I actually like that last one enough that I got it tattooed on me. :)