Foals share their brand new single ‘2am’ as they build anticipation for their new album ‘Life Is Yours’, which will follow this summer. ‘2am’ is the second track to preview the album following ‘Wake Me Up’, which was featured in NME’s 50 Best Songs of 2021.
‘2am’ finds Foals embracing the exuberant energy and dance-tinged grooves that made ‘My Number’ and ‘In Degrees’ such fan favourites and pushes those traits to their absolute limit. While its euphoria is further amplified by a classic sparkling Foals guitar riff, there is – as the title suggests – the counterpoint of an introspective, late-night melancholy to its lyrics.
Frontman Yannis Philippakis says, “Musically ‘2am’ is one of the poppiest songs we’ve ever written. It’s about repetitive cycles of destructive behaviour, which I think lots of people can relate to, and certainly it’s an expression of something that I struggle with. There’s something cathartic about expressing that feeling to this upbeat music that’s got a sense of release and the hope of resolution.”
‘2am’ was produced by John Hill (Portugal The Man, Florence + The Machine, Cage The Elephant ) and Dan Carey (Tame Impala, Fontaines D.C.), and recorded during sessions at Real World Studios, Bath and Carey’s studio in south London. It was then mixed by the ten-time Grammy Award winner Manny Marroquin (Post Malone, Kanye West, Rihanna).
‘2am’ and ‘Wake Me Up’ provide a flavour of what to expect from the ‘Life Is Yours’ album. Foals – completed by Jimmy Smith and Jack Bevan – started writing the album in their south London rehearsal space in the oppressive lockdown winter of 2020. They very naturally gravitated towards writing songs with a zeal for escapism: propulsive energy, sun-kissed melodies and transportive lyrical themes, both in terms of time and space. Not only was it an escape from the confinement of the moment, but it also opened a window to a future in which the communal thrill of live shows would once again be a reality.
Having written the album in the bleak, brisk winter, the songs were recorded as the ambience shifted to the spring and summer months. Appropriately for an album which explores elements of rebirth, Foals approached the recording process in an entirely new way. There are different configurations of producers, mixers and studios used on each track, an approach which crafted a creative cohesion from a multitude of collaborative voices.
Expect more about ‘Life Is Yours’ to be unveiled soon. The record will be Foals’ follow-up to the ambitious scale of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’. Released in two parts in 2019, it took Foals to new heights as they claimed their first UK #1 album and won the BRIT Award for Best Group.
After playing a short run of shows last year, including a headline set at All Points East, 2022 will see Foals make a long-awaited return to touring. Their UK headline tour in April and May includes a four-night run at London’s Olympia, while their summer festival schedule is also taking shape. Their UK and Ireland dates are listed below. Please see their website for ticket details and a full list of their international tour dates.
APRIL
20th – Edinburgh, Usher Hall (SOLD OUT)
21st – Edinburgh, Usher Hall (SOLD OUT)
23rd – Birmingham, Arena
25th – Hull, Bonus Arena
26th – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
27th – Brighton, Centre
29th – London, Olympia (SOLD OUT)
30th – London, Olympia (SOLD OUT)
MAY
1st – London, Olympia (SOLD OUT)
2nd – London, Olympia (SOLD OUT)
5th – Blackpool, Empress Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
6th – Blackpool, Empress Ballroom (SOLD OUT)
9th – London, O2 Academy Brixton (SOLD OUT)
JUNE
27th – Dublin, Fairview Park
29th – Manchester, Castlefield Bowl, Sounds of the City (SOLD OUT)
JULY
8th – Leeds, Millennium Square, Sounds of the City
9th – Glasgow, TRSNMT
