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Tonight: Franz Ferdinand

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Untitled

Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is Franz Ferdinand's upcoming third album. It is scheduled for release through Domino Records on 26 January 2009 in the UK, and the following day in North America[1]. It has been announced that "Ulysses" will be released on the 19 January 2009 as the first single[2] and is available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.[3]

Production

Cover art

The artwork for the album is a photograph taken by Soren Starbird just after midnight behind the Barrowlands Ballroom in Glasgow. Talking to NME, drummer Paul Thomson said, "We wanted to get a Weegee vibe – that famous New York crime scene photographer from the '40s and '50s."[4] Subsequently, it is part of a series where the band are taking photos with photographers in different cities they end up in. On the band's blog, they mention the series of photos as 'imaginary crime scenes, invaded by the photographer', and 'a slice of night frozen by flash'.[5]

Recording history

Franz Ferdinand began working on their third studio album in early 2007. The band planned to write and record the album in Glasgow.[6] Although having written about eight songs while on tour in 2005, Alex Kapranos decided to write new tunes because he wanted the album to be "...quite new, to be quite different sounding from everything we've ever done before."[7] Despite having recorded their sophomore album in a blitz, Kapranos stressed that the band wanted to take their time. He voices, "This time we wanted to spend more time developing, and also, I suppose, allowing songs and sounds to evolve more before we ended up writing an album, and absorbing more music and ideas and, I suppose, life itself. And when I say life, I mean life off the road, because I wouldn't classify life on the road as real life."[8] Franz Ferdinand was supposed to record the album with producer Brian Higgins, yet in March 2008, the two entities parted ways. The drummer, Paul Thomson, says "We wrote with Higgins for a while and initially we thought we'd work more with him but it didn't really work out. We just realized that we're not really a pop group." However, they also commented they have not given up on the pop concept.[9] It was announced on 20 September 2008 that they had finished work on the album but still had no title for it.

On 7 October 2008, reporter Michael Hogan from Vanity Fair interviewed Alex and Paul, who confirmed the title of their third album to be Tonight,[10] with NME reporting the album's amended title and release date a week later.[11]

Musical style

The album has reportedly been inspired by the "heavy dub sound of Jamaican reggae stars."[12] Alex Kapranos also stated the album has a "...streak of electronica...", however, is still a mix of influences. He also commented it has "..the heavy bass and space echo you would find on a dub mix."[13] In a Rolling Stone interview, Kapranos stated the album is more of a dance than a rock record.[14] In an interview with Billboard.com, Kapranos said "It's the opposite of punk/pop, which took something that was wonderful and removed all the dirt." He also said the band is using Russian Polyvox synthesizers.[15] The album has somewhat of an African influence according to an XFM article in which Alex reeled, "We're one of these bands that are always gonna sound the same no matter what we do, but there are other influences there. I guess the drums are a little different, Paul has been listening to a lot of African stuff so that's gonna come through."[16] It has also been reported that the song "Kiss Me" uses a human skeleton for percussion.[17]

Release

In August 2008, Franz Ferdinand released "Lucid Dreams" through iTunes and made available for listen on their official website. It is also featured on the Madden NFL 09 soundtrack.[18] The band, however, stated on their website that "Lucid Dreams" was not a single.[19] The track on the album will differ from this version.

"Ulysses" was chosen to be the first single and will be released 19 January 2009. The song received first airplay at BBC Radio 1 on 17 November 2008. It was made available on the iTunes Store in North America on 2 December. It is yet to be released in the UK.

A live version of "What She Came For" was released as a free download on the NME Music website's Franz Ferdinand page on 18 December 2008. [20]

On January 9th, "No You Girls" was released on iTunes.

Reception

Early critical reaction to the album has been very positive, with Clash magazine commenting that it could be "the band’s most complete work to date. Worth the wait, and in all honesty better than we could ever have hoped for." [21]

Uncut's review of the album was less enthusiastic. They commented that the album sounds dry and superficial, and the songs sound too similar to each other and other Franz Ferdinand songs. "On Tonight, the trousers are still tight but the grins are in danger of wearing thin."

Track listing

  1. "Ulysses" (3:13)
  2. "Turn It On" (2:23)
  3. "No You Girls" (3:44)
  4. "Send Him Away" (3:01)
  5. "Twilight Omens" (2:32)
  6. "Bite Hard" (3:31)
  7. "What She Came For" (3:28)
  8. "Live Alone" (3:36)
  9. "Can't Stop Feeling" (3:05)
  10. "Lucid Dreams" (7:58)
  11. "Dream Again" (3:20)
  12. "Katherine Kiss Me" (2:56)
iTunes bonus tracks (US and Canada)
  2. "Lucid Dreams" (Pre-Album Version)
  4. "Ulysses" (The Disco Bloodbath Effect) [Pre-Order Only]
  6. "Feeling Kind of Anxious" [Pre-Order only]
Blood: Tonight (2CD Special Edition Boxset)
  1. "Feel the Pressure"
  2. "Die on the Floor"
  3. "Vaguest of Feeling"
  4. "If I Can't Have You Then Nobody Can"
  5. "Katherine Hit Me"
  6. "Backwards on My Face"
  7. "Feeling Kind of Anxious"
  8. "Feel the Envy"

References

  1. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/40441
  2. ^ Franz Ferdinand announce new single - NME.com
  3. ^ http://myspace.com/franzferdinand
  4. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/41288
  5. ^ http://www.franzferdinand.co.uk/blog_band/index.php
  6. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/26134
  7. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/26134
  8. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/12/28/in-the-studio-franz-ferdinand-say-third-album-is-more-dance-than-rock/
  9. ^ http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/mar/27/news.franzferdinand
  10. ^ http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/10/an-obama-fundraiser-my-big-franz-ferdinand-scoop.html
  11. ^ http://www.nme.com/news/franz-ferdinand/40441
  12. ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-catch-all/2008/08/22/exclusive-scots-stars-franz-ferdinand-ready-to-reveal-new-sound-at-connect-86908-20706919/
  13. ^ http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/entertainment/entertainment-catch-all/2008/08/22/exclusive-scots-stars-franz-ferdinand-ready-to-reveal-new-sound-at-connect-86908-20706919/
  14. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/12/28/in-the-studio-franz-ferdinand-say-third-album-is-more-dance-than-rock/
  15. ^ http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2008/01/franz-ferdinand-working-on-third-album.html
  16. ^ http://www.xfm.co.uk/news/2008/franz-ferdinand-name-new-single
  17. ^ Franz Ferdinand drum with human bones - The Guardian, 10 October 2008
  18. ^ http://fireglo.wordpress.com/2008/08/20/franz-ferdinand-new-song-called-lucid-dreams/
  19. ^ http://franzferdinand.co.uk/blog_band2/index.php
  20. ^ http://www.nme.com/franzferdinand
  21. ^ http://www.clashmusic.com/reviews/franz-ferdinand
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