Franz Ferdinand have announced details of their new studio album, The Human Fear, which will be released on Friday 10th January 2025 on Domino.
Ever since their beginnings, throwing illegal parties in condemned Glasgow buildings, Franz Ferdinand have been defined by a fresh, unfading, forward-facing outlook, a transgressive art-school perspective, but with a love of a big song and The Human Fear undoubtedly continues in this tradition; distinct yet new, musically, and creatively it's a record eager to push forward.
Pretty much all written before they hit the studio, the idea was to have a songbook ready before they started recording and once in the studio it was all quickly executed - a lot of it recorded live with the band in the room and many of the vocals on the album being the original takes.
The first studio album to feature members Audrey Tait and Dino Bardot, the record also sees Julian Corrie step forward to collaborate with Alex Kapranos and Bob Hardy on song writing and creative duties.
A band for whom the aesthetic and style is almost as important as the sound, as ever the importance of this is reflected in the cover artwork which was inspired by Hungarian artist Dóra Maurer's self-portrait 7 Twists - Maurer's work appealed because it does exactly what they want from their music: a striking immediacy that is impossible to ignore, but with a depth and vulnerability that bears many returns and satisfactory repetition.
Maybe this is a set of songs about fear, maybe this is a set of bangers from an era-defining band continuing their unquestionably living legacy. Is that something to be afraid of?
