Franz Ferdinand - The Human Fear

Produced with Mark Ralph, who previously worked with them on their 2013album ‘Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action’, album ‘The Human Fear’showcases Franz Ferdinand at their most immediate, upbeat and lifeaffirming, unashamedly going for the pop-jugular in classic Franz style. Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, the 11-songs on ‘The Human Fear’ allallude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and acceptingthese fears drives and defines our lives.  Ever since their beginnings, throwing illegal parties in condemned Glasgowbuildings, Franz Ferdinand have been defined by a fresh, unfading, forwardfacing outlook, a transgressive art school perspective, but with a love of a bigsong, and ‘The Human Fear’ undoubtedly continues in this tradition; distinctyet 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 asongbook ready before they started recording and once in the studio it wasall quickly executed - a lot of it recorded live with the band in the room andmany of the vocals on the album being the original takes.  The first studio album to feature members Audrey Tait and Dino Bardot, therecord also sees Julian Corrie step forward to collaborate with Alex Kapranosand Bob Hardy on songwriting 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 wasinspired by Hungarian artist Dóra Maurer’s self-portrait ‘7 Twists’ - Maurer’swork appealed because it does exactly what they want from their music: astriking immediacy that is impossible to ignore, but with a depth andvulnerability that bears many returns and satisfactory repetition.  Maybe this is a set of songs about fear, maybe this is a set of bangers froman era-defining band continuing their unquestionably living legacy. Is thatsomething to be afraid of?