Foals took NME through the inspiration and creation of every song on their acclaimed new album, ‘Life Is Yours‘. Watch our video interview above.
Hailed by NME as “an album to be filed alongside Primal Scream‘s ‘Screamadelica’, New Order’s ‘Technique’ and LCD Soundsystem’s ‘Sound Of Silver’ as one of those records that makes you move, but with no cheap thrills”, the Oxford trio’s seventh album is currently on course to be Number One this week before their appearance at Glastonbury tomorrow night (Friday June 24).
With speculation around whether the band will throw any surprises into the setlist, many are hoping that they perform new fan favourite and album closer ‘Wild Green’.
“‘Wild Green’ is a song based around an arpeggio that Jimmy [Smith, guitar] wrote,” frontman Yannis Philippakis told NME. “It had a couple of different forms and it was pretty loose for a long time, but we just enjoyed going round and round the arpeggio.
“The moment we wrote it, we thought it would be the closer – because of the way that this song enters this hypnotic, meditative falling apart at the end. There’s a sense of it exhaling slowly. Because the album’s so intense, it’s so upbeat and it’s so dancey, you need that moment of comedown and exhalation.”
Credit: Tom Oxley
He added: “I like the idea that it’s a very natural song. When we were recording at Real World studios, we were just surrounded by nature. There were kingfishers fishing, it was all very green and verdant like the English summertime. The song is about the regeneration of nature. Particularly after COVID and the destructive power of nature, there’s also the spring that returns and the healing power of nature.”
In reviewing ‘Life Is Yours’, NME concluded: “Lord knows we’ve needed this. You’ll feel the love if you catch them headlining The Other Stage on the Friday night of next weekend’s Glastonbury, or if you just let this record into your life for a lost sun-soaked hour in the park: Foals are still peaking, so let’s come up together.”
Foals headline The Other Stage at Glastonbury tomorrow at 10.30pm. Check back at NME here for the latest news, reviews, interviews, photos and more from Glastonbury 2022.
