SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: FRANZ FERDINAND – THE HUMAN FEAR

FRANZ FERDINAND
THE HUMAN FEAR
DOMINO RECORDS

Franz Ferdinand’s first studio album in seven years (Always Ascending being 2018’s major effort) is instantly identifiable from its opening track “Audacious”. Alex Kapranos’s voice has lost none of that same impish quality that it had, and coupled with a classic Franz-like riff, it could easily be 2004 again.

However, the hint that all is not quite as it was back then, is in the surprising bits of piano and keyboard instrumentation lurking below the standard indie riffs. Off the back of that, the album soon explodes into something else entirely, becoming heavily synth led. From there, it’s quite funky – and trailed single “Hooked” is clearly the best shot at a hit – its catchy and futuristic alt-disco, and it’s just weird enough to catch on, too.

Sadly, it can’t really sustain the momentum that the first half generates. “Night Or Day”, “Bar Lonely” and album closer “The Birds” are all good songs, but momentum is lost too frequently to songs following the same template – the stop-start, staccato disco rhythms with no discernible chorus line, making most of the second half a dull listen.

It’s a pity, as there are some good ideas here, and Franz Ferdinand deserve some plaudits for not simply ‘playing the hits’ or falling victim to the siren song of nostalgia, and “Hooked” is a genuinely good effort, but The Human Fear ends as an uneven effort of a band pulling in multiple directions.

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