Franz Ferdinand – The Human Fear

There’s an age-old aphorism that sometimes you have to look back, in order to go forwards. With ‘Hits To The Head’ – a glorious singles collection – Franz Ferdinand finally glanced back over their finely tailored shoulders, before embarking on a world tour. This energy seemed to solidify the latest evolution of their line-up, plunging head-first into the studio for ‘The Human Fear’ – the band’s sixth studio album, and one that simultaneously digs into their bedrock, before leaping out into the unknown.

A band blessed with an innate pop touch, there’s a fantastic degree of immediacy on show here. Lead single ‘Audacious’ is a preening slice of Franz-pop with an arch Alex Kapranos vocal, while the tumbling piano line on ‘Night Or Day’ points to the influence of one-time collaborators Sparks in its daring wit.

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‘Black Eyelashes’ is a baroque-disco number, if such a thing were possible; information is packed into every line, the stomping rhythm tailor made for those epic festival sets. Indeed, there’s a huge degree of risk-taking here – ‘Hooked’ is every bit as unhinged at Domino labelmates Fat Dog, for instance.

What shines through, however, is the Glasgow band’s pop appetite, and their disregard for the past. Refusing to haul over former glories, ‘The Human Fear’ sounds fresh and vibrant – ‘Bar Lonely’ exudes effervescence, while the clanking no wave guitars that open ‘The Birds’ swiftly give way to a sharp-angled slice of indie pop fare that casts a withering gaze towards the dancefloor. Fun, lean, and concise, ‘The Human Fear’ finds Franz Ferdinand looking to the future without any need to panic.

7/10

Words: Robin Murray