Album Review: Franz Ferdinand Show Change Is Always Ascending
When Franz Ferdinand’s guitarist/keyboard player Nick McCarthy decided to leave the band in order to spend more time with his family, the remaining three members weren’t sure whether or how to continue. They knew they wanted to keep doing music, but when a band member/ heart leaves the group, it is hard to find a rhythm again. Thus, for their new album, Always Ascending, Franz Ferdinand was determined to make an album as vibrant, show-stopping, and commanding as their self- titled debut.
It seems natural that you go back to your roots, when you feel you have been cut-off. Though McCarthy’s exit was amicable and understandable, Always Ascending was born from a sincere desire to re-ascend. Still, their nostalgia for the beginning does not mean they sound exactly like it. Instead, Always Ascending connects to their debut by being as experimental with sound, but this time, not with punk-garage rock, as much as dark funkadelia and electro-post-punk. The album feels more noir and seedier then their initial music; playing with mystery of punk rather than its angst.
Franz Ferdinand – Always Ascending (Official Video)
In many ways, it makes sense that Franz Ferdinand’s newest album dances with mysteriousness in sound, and feels like a night-ride through the club underground. After all, their music future felt like a mystery, of which Always Ascending finds its themes on trying to rise above uncertainty to celebrate what is certain. Sure, a relationship’s future is unknown, but love is, somehow, always accessible; “Feel The Love Go” or “Glimpse of Love”. Alright, you may not always feel so clear about your path, but glory is, usually, not attained through plans; “The Academy Award”, “Paper Cages”, and “Lois Lane”. Getting the picture? For the revamped Franz Ferdinand, they are lyrically and melodically exemplifying that good times can be born when you react well to bad ones.
Franz Ferdinand – Feel The Love Go (Official Video)
From “Always Ascending” to “Huck And Jim”, Franz Ferdinand has truly come back with a new, eccentric sound, which is what we can always rely on them to do. The Scottish band still hands its quirky hooks, and thrives on Alex Kapranos theatrical vocality. Not one song leaves without his dramatic flare, and vocal capacity to display every emotion as if it were a fabulously, ghoulish cast member of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. For More Information on Franz Ferdinand And To Buy Always Ascending on February 9 Click Here.
Franz Ferdinand – Lazy Boy (Official Audio)
