After scurrying underneath national acknowledgement for the better part of a decade, Foal, the Oxford based five-piece band, released their third album, "Holy Fire," on Feb. 11.
The album's big-bodied, boisterous sound proves the band's desire to break away from stale, smoky bars and into sold out arenas. Taken right out of a playbook from the Talking Heads, the album contains the band's first ever hit single, "My Number."
The commercially satisfying element of "Holy Fire" lends itself more in the production of the tracks than the actual sound itself. At one point they've marketed themselves with the masses in mind, while still keeping their own unique sound. In this sense, they've managed success without dumbing down their instrumentals, vocals, or texture of the album.
The eleven tracks of the album range from eighties garb, reminiscent of a matured "Beach House," to the distorted guitar licks one expects from an epic-themed rock band. The mish-mash of influences greatly develops the instrumentation into an evolved and complete texture that documents a monumental growth for the band.
The minimalistic nature of the lyrics, centered on the aesthetic quality of the lead singer Yannis Philippakis' voice, is dripping with angst. What appears at first to be an artificial level of on-the-surface-meaning quickly develops and reveals a hidden layer of profundity. This combined with the fluctuating colors of the instrumentation enables a sound as complete as it is sparse.
Yet with this simplicity, the band threatens their unconventional fan base with the sugarcoated music of pop culture, tottering on the brinks of all-out popularity. Although the sound, still in its formative years of growth, can not yet be so easily defined, it will be interesting to see the path the music takes after "Holy Fire's" national success. Regardless, the album will no doubt act as a gateway for the band's stardom, invite them into the world of festivals, and top the charts. Both the album and the band deserve nothing less.
Benjamin Rader can be reached at benjamin.rader@student.shu.edu.
