'Mountain At My Gates' follows with a brighter more upbeat feel, although the vocals again feel angry and lost, Foals signature groove-based Indie is given its first true outing on the album. Repeating, muted guitar lines which the chords can shift around; solid, funky bass-playing and smart drums. The chorus is one of the most FM moments on the album, which overall delivers in spades instrumentally. There's all the ear candy you could ask for, and much of this material is sure to wind up in the background of advertising and sports montages, but the vocals tend to take a different angle – one that won't necessarily see them ride to the top of the pop charts in a lasting way, but will certainly see them fulfilling the needs of angst filled teenagers looking for a soundtrack to the confused rage of their adolescence.
'Birch Tree' is even more tropical in it's bubbly guitar playing and the funk bass – which has always been one of my favourite aspects of the Foals sound: Walter Gervers is a bit of an unsung hero in my opinion, between his superb bass playing and complimentary falsetto vocals, he's an essential component. This is one of the softer tracks on the album, which ends up coming across like a funky bit of French House by the time it gets to it's fullest. Foals are a great band for layering things up gradually, every little element gets a moment to shine in their generous arrangements before combining together to create dense, complex and compelling crescendo's.
The first real ballad of the album 'Give It All' sounds amazingly lush, drenched in rich synth pads – but there's something about the distinctive repetitive beat that makes me think either (if I'm being cruel) of Enya's 'Orinocco Flow' or (if I'm being kind) Kate Bush's 'Running Up That Hill'. It's the latter that wins out in the end though as a very familiar sounding Kate Bush-esque synthesiser rises from the ambience, as if the band are deliberately making a nod to the influence.
'Albatross' picks up the pace again with funky syncopated palm-muted guitar and rim-shots teasing a groove you know is going to break out into something far bigger. It doesn't disappoint as the bass comes in with the kick pedal and sounds huge but still gives them plenty of room to manoeuvre leading me to anticipate an even bigger drop later on. They do manage to surprise though, as the guitars and synths build up relentlessly and Yannis's vocal becomes more strained and urgent, the drums maintain their restraint throughout – creating a weirdly affecting tension.
'Snake Oil' starts with what sounds like a bit-crushed digital beat. There's a pleasant buzzy distortion. It's an odd rocker this – and when the syncopated rock riff comes in after the vocals it sounds like every instrument has been pitched down an octave – the bass is so dense and heavy it almost overwhelms the track. This is Foals really having it, but it keeps things at the mid-tempo pace where this band are clearly most comfortable – they want to rock but are not prepared to sacrifice groove for it. For all its bluster though this track doesn't quite nail it – the hooks don't coalesce into something greater than the sum of their parts, as they so often do. 'Night Swimmers' brings back those palm-muted guitars with a great bass-line, full of space that gradually fills out as the track progresses, combined with the carefully measured drumming this track ends up with a bit of an afro-beat feel, which vaguely reminds me of Talking Heads 'Once In A Lifetime' but that kind of turns on its head towards the end, when a deep guitar riff comes in.
'London Thunder' opens with a beautiful Fender Rhodes-like electric piano tone, rich with analogue distortion. It's a ballad that has a similar chord sequence to Gary Jules' 'Mad World' but even before the rhythm section kicks in you can here a skip in the keyboard pattern that suggests the sort of slant Foals are going to deliver. However they manage to surprise again here, as the bass part that fills things out is far more like something Air would do and the drums are very much a Minimal House affair, creating a more expansive and less predictable build than I was anticipating.
The next song, 'Lonely Hunter' sounds a little more mainstream and conventional, both in it's lofty production and the catchier vocal melody of the rousing chorus. It has it's moments but it doesn't quite come across on the first couple of listens. It's mid-tempo, unchallenging and ultimately just nice – I can see how saying that risks damning it with faint praise, but I wouldn't lose the song. It doesn't sound out of place and the album probably needs this rest before the intensity of album closer – the epic 'A Knife In The Ocean'. The powerful mood of this dark closing piece really benefits from the lighter song that proceeds it. It has a great falling-down drum beat that rattles around the kit. I, for one, am a fan of the way the drums on this album are almost always performed with full force – even in what's ostensibly a mellow moment – it merely adds to that tension. This track has these blissful, wide-screen moments that in the hands of a band like Coldplay or Sigur Ros would feel like someone staring at a beautiful view, absorbed by the wonder of nature. In Foals' hands this sort of beauty feels compromised – our protagonist is only checking out the view to escape from the stress of the urban world, but he can't escape. The twitching, glitching synths and guitars that occasionally rise up in the mix, working against the general flow of the song, feel like the inescapable thoughts of an over-active mind.
This muscular, masculine groove-moan of an album is probably not for everyone, but if you've been a fan of Foals in the past I doubt it will disappoint and I wouldn't be surprised if it brought some more disciples into the fold. There's so much complexity going on beneath the surface that it is also certain to reward repeat listens. While Foals stock surely continues to rise, What Went Down is not a huge innovation and there will be those asking why they didn't come out with something a little bit more special – I for one am hoping they've yet to reach their pinnacle.
Adam Kidd
Website: foals.co.uk