Foals - Holy Fire (04/04/2013)
There is much to be said about Foals’ third studio album Holy Fire. It takes you around the universe and back with their tantalizing outer-space samples and delayed arpeggios but, it’s difficult to really, to find much beyond it.
The album is by no means boring. It’s enjoyable, the songs are all different but maintain an effective flow throughout the album’s 11 racks, the band’s sound is harnessed and pervasive, and there are a couple of songs that are somewhat, immediate. However, listen after listen you expect the album to grip you and create a want that fires every time the light of your iPod illuminates your face, but it really doesn’t.
For a third studio album Holy Fire is rather disappointing, though songs such as Bad Habit and introductory track Prelude are its saving graces. It isn’t about the catchy hooks and the groovy beats bring you around about these tracks, it’s the atmosphere. If one thing that can be said for Foals, it’s that they can most definitely create an almost ethereal, universal feeling in their songs.
Whether intentional or not, this sensation is underscored throughout the album. Final track Moon is so appropriately named because of the profound way that a listener is immersed in the silence and limitless boundaries of space.
These are all positives that can be said for Holy Fire and in a way, you wish you could say that you adored every moment but, unfortunately the album is filled with less-than-stimulating elements. Most of the tracks could easily have been b-sides, it was hard to identify the singles if not for the sticker that adorned the cover of the album and of the 11 tracks only three of four caused me to go back and listen out of desire.
For a third studio album, Holy Fire missed the target. Foals are brilliant and different from your average British indie-rock cohort that has the potential to release a veritably memorable album. Unfortunately, Holy Fire is most definitely, not it.
Jack White
The album is by no means boring. It’s enjoyable, the songs are all different but maintain an effective flow throughout the album’s 11 racks, the band’s sound is harnessed and pervasive, and there are a couple of songs that are somewhat, immediate. However, listen after listen you expect the album to grip you and create a want that fires every time the light of your iPod illuminates your face, but it really doesn’t.
For a third studio album Holy Fire is rather disappointing, though songs such as Bad Habit and introductory track Prelude are its saving graces. It isn’t about the catchy hooks and the groovy beats bring you around about these tracks, it’s the atmosphere. If one thing that can be said for Foals, it’s that they can most definitely create an almost ethereal, universal feeling in their songs.
Whether intentional or not, this sensation is underscored throughout the album. Final track Moon is so appropriately named because of the profound way that a listener is immersed in the silence and limitless boundaries of space.
These are all positives that can be said for Holy Fire and in a way, you wish you could say that you adored every moment but, unfortunately the album is filled with less-than-stimulating elements. Most of the tracks could easily have been b-sides, it was hard to identify the singles if not for the sticker that adorned the cover of the album and of the 11 tracks only three of four caused me to go back and listen out of desire.
For a third studio album, Holy Fire missed the target. Foals are brilliant and different from your average British indie-rock cohort that has the potential to release a veritably memorable album. Unfortunately, Holy Fire is most definitely, not it.
Jack White