English alternative rock band, Foals, released their third album, titled “Holy Fire,” capturing all of the best elements of the bands music in an eleven track masterpiece. Combining soft and eerie vocals with a more rock based tune, “Holy Fire” is a well rounded and carefully produced record––easily able to achieve the same greatness as their most recent record “Total Life Forever.”
The first single off the record, “Inhaler,” begins with a spunky and bouncing beat, leading into a softer and calculated chorus that features lead singer, Yannis Philippakis’, vocals. The song slowly builds into a more intense, rock sounding track, that turns the song into an instant hit. With raspy and longing vocals that move along to the turns and funk of the song, “Inhaler” leads the album to further success.
Another eerily calculated and rock sounding track that follows “Inhaler” would be “My Number.” With catchy lyrics, that Foals songs usually tend to lack, this song is danceable and creative, with vocal “ooo’s” that make the song fun. With an interesting guitar hook and a pop-funk vibe that radiates from the beat of this track.
The album tends to balance itself out quite equally, with a strong beginning of the album, followed by a scattering of equally amusing and creative songs throughout the rest of the record, keeping audiences intrigued throughout the entirety of “Holy Fire.” “Milk and Black Spiders” is an example of this middle of the album brilliance, with a steady drum that echoes off the vibrations of Philippakis vocals. This song is moving and empowering, with a mathematical beat that builds throughout the song, getting more up tempo as the track continues, before repeating the intense chorus that captures the essence of the album as a whole.
“Everytime” also serves as one of the albums strengths, with another heavy drum beat that molds and shapes the vocals. The song becomes catchy as it continues along its course, the instruments complementing each other as they fade in and out of the song, until the chorus begins, overpowering the track with a creative and intriguing hook.
A hidden gem, buried away inside “Holy Fire” is the emotional and beautifully crafted, “Bad Habit.” The song is relatable and touching, with a not too slow, not too fast beat, that dances along to the chorus. Beginning with a static-like feel, the song slowly moves to an experimentally steady beat, that builds into an easy to listen to, and easy to love, track that serves as the heart of the album.
Foals’ previous album was a large success, most notably for their track, “Spanish Sahara,” that was featured in multiple television shows, such as the “Entourage”, and the E4 show, “Skins.” The only fault “Holy Fire” seems to have is their obvious strain to duplicate another eerie and mysterious sounding hit like, “Spanish Sahara.” The track “Late Night” tries to achieve this, with melodic and building lyrics that smear cleanly throughout the song, without ever quite achieving the effect that “Spanish Sahara” did. Not to say that “Late Night” does not have a whispering and moving feel that makes it beautiful, despite its obvious attempt to replicate the previous success.
“Holy Fire” as a whole shows off Foals ability to make a song emotional while still making it catchy, as well as their talent of song buildup that is an element in almost every song on this album. With high expectations to live up to due to their previous albums success, the band has raised the bar even higher with any albums yet to come, with “Holy Fire” remaining eerily beautiful and melodic.
