Foals’ current album ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1’ has been shortlisted for this month’s Mercury Prize. It’s a fitting accolade for an album that raises the bar in every respect, from its themes of global chaos to its ambitious double-disc scale through to the sheer sonic spectrum that it traverses. An undeniable album of the year contender, it sees Foals stride confidently forward to become one of the world’s most essential bands.
The power of that artistic statement will be amplified when ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’ is unleashed on October 18th. Recently previewed by the single ‘Black Bull’, which was chosen by Annie Mac as her Hottest Record in the World, Foals further ignite anticipation for the album by revealing the new track‘The Runner’.
Born from a lurching, serrated guitar, ‘The Runner’ unfolds in surprising ways. The verses fuse that urgency and vigour with a haunting call-and-response dual vocal before the mesmeric hook soars to attention. Lyrically, ‘The Runner’ is set in the aftermath of the landscape described in the final songs of ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1’ – a world that reflects our current predicament whether emotional, political or environmental.
‘The Runner’ was produced by Foals themselves: Yannis Philippakis (vocals/guitar), Jimmy Smith (guitar), Jack Bevan (drums) and Edwin Congreave (keys), with Philippakis and Congreave contributing bass too.
‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’ will be released on CD, digital and vinyl formats. Special editions include an orange vinyl that will be available exclusively through indie stores and a picture disc which is designed to be added to the ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ Collector’s Edition boxset. The album is available to pre-order from https://foals.me/enswbl2, with ‘The Runner’ and ‘Black Bull’ provided as instant downloads.
‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’ is symbolic of Foals’ trajectory so far. From playing chaotic house parties in their home city of Oxford to becoming major festival headliners across Europe, they’ve earned critical acclaim (NME and Q Award wins, plus Mercury Prize, Ivor Novello and BRIT Award nominations) and fan devotion (1.7 million album sales, plus over half a billion streams at Spotify since 2015) in equal measure.
‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1’ debuted at #2 on the Official Album Charts, making it the band’s joint highest charting set to date. They followed its release by completing a huge UK tour which included two sold-out shows at London’s prestigious Alexandra Palace. Foals also played triumphant sets atGlastonbury and Radio 1’s Big Weekend before headlining the Truck and Y Not Festivals. Their next show comes with a headline set at Hamburg Docks on September 20th as part of this year’s Reeperbahn Festival.
