Foals - Total Life Forever [24 bit FLAC] vinyl

Foals - Total Life Forever (2010) [24 bit FLAC] vinyl

Released: 2010
Genre: Pop/Rock
Style: Indie Rock
Codec: FLAC
Bit Rate: ~ 2,100 kbps
Bits Per Sample: 24
Sample Rate: 96,000 Hz

01. Blue Blood (05:10)
02. Miami (03:37)
03. Total Life Forever (03:13)
04. Black Gold (06:18)
05. Spanish Sahara (06:40)
06. This Orient (03:57)
07. Fugue (00:47)
08. After Glow (06:01)
09. Alabaster (03:56)
10. 2trees (05:08)
11. What Remains (04:41)

After Foals scrapped the mix of their debut, Antidotes, by TV on the RadioΓÇÖs Dave Sitek, it was clear that they were a band that was interested in creating their own sound. That sentiment may be why their follow-up, Total Life Forever, sounds more like a reaction to their first record than a continuation of it. Many of the elements that drove Foals into the spotlight in the first place are definitely still in place. ThereΓÇÖs plenty of cascading, Minus the Bear-style guitar work and funky Talking Heads influence in their math-pop-meets-the-dancefloor rhythms. WhatΓÇÖs missing is the edge. Total Life Forever is considerably more subdued than its predecessor, lacking much of the uptempo thump found on Antidotes. In its place is a mellower, more spacious sound. While this new sound is still danceable, itΓÇÖs far more refined than the angular post-punk riffing that fans might be expecting. Right from the beginning, the album-opening, ΓÇ£Blue BloodΓÇ¥ makes it clear that Foals are taking a different, more patient approach to songwriting, letting the song build and build on itself as it methodically works itself into a frenzy before leaving the way it came in. Because of the changes here, fans of the early, pre-Antidotes singles may find Total Life Forever to be too restrained, lacking the youthful vigor of their debut. Where some see restraint, others may very well see refinement, and those who appreciated Antidotes' more spacy passages will find that Foals' reinvention of their sound is a calculated risk that definitely pays off.