Singing the singularity

The U.K.’s Foals find meaning in impossible love and the all-too-possible future

For an album that delves into futurist ideas, Foals’ Total Life Forever sounds remarkably organic. A strange thought given that the Oxford quintet’s first album, 2008’s Antidotes, was a tightly wound, mathematical rocker that seemed like the ideal harbinger for a not-too-distant future where technology and human biology collide.

On their 2010 Mercury Prize-nominated sophomore record, the five members did their best to avoid impending transhumanist doom and the outside world at large by moving in together. “I think it kept the real world at bay,” says guitarist/vocalist Yannis Philippakis. “In a way, we avoided the onset of real life that can often threaten bands. We didn’t have a TV. It was an entirely musical house. It was a shame we got evicted.”

Sequestering themselves resulted in looser, geographically inspired jams that make Total Life Forever a harmonious, visually evocative listen. It also gave Philippakis a chance to develop as a frontman, writing lyrics and singing in the basement at night, where it was quieter and he didn’t feel as self-conscious. Whereas Philippakis typically shouted nonsensical lyrics before, there was a more concerted effort to make singing a personally cathartic experience.

“When the first record was written, we were really just an instrumental band, a dance band who played house parties and had really specific and closeted ideas about music. The idea of communicating actual meanings wasn’t high on the list.”

The title track itself sets the scene for the many thematic threads that run throughout the album. It carries a danceable Caribbean backbeat with lyrics reminiscent of the Lemonheads’ “Into Your Arms” before referencing American author Ray Kurzweil’s writings on the singularity—the moment when humans will be able to evolve through technology.

“It’s kind of a love song. I like the idea of the halcyon, totally impossible, unrealistic, naive idea of the Hollywood love story. The lyrics in the second verse move more into the end of society, an apocalyptic scenario visually similar to [Cormac McCarthy’s] The Road, where mega-ruin is caused by nanobots and everything becoming smaller and smaller.

“I like the contrast between the saccharine folly of that relationship set in this place where biological achievements have meant we’ve been superceded by technology.” ■

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