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If Franz Ferdinand’s eponymous debut was the ideal launch pad for an exciting new band, 2006’s 'You Could Have It So Much Better' was the relatively difficult, unfocused second album. Their third album arrives after a three year gestation, but as luck would have it, 'Tonight: Franz Ferdinand', justifies the wait.
After excessive touring to promote their last album (including the tour of small venues that stopped at Fibbers last year), the band collaborated on stage with Africa Express, and in the studio with Xenomania, producers of numerous hits for Girls Aloud and Sugababes.
Naturally, rumours abounded that a big change in their style was coming; that hi-hat backbeats could be replaced by African polyrhythms, or spiky guitars by saturated pop synths. As it happens, not much has changed. The best moments of the new album provide more of the same music to get girls dancing that brought Franz Ferdinand popularity in the first place.
'No You Girls' builds to an infectious chorus just as 'Take Me Out' did, whilst 'Live Alone'’s melody echoes 'Auf Achse'. These are excellent songs, although they represent the repeated use of a formula the band had already perfected by the time of their rise to fame, and, considered alone, might imply a lack of direction.
However, new musical touches add colour across the rest of the album, and are invariably successful, if not revolutionary. 'Send Him Away' is built around a fragment of a traditional Scottish jig, culminating in an Afrobeat-inspired instrumental section. Album opener 'Ulysses' and 'What She Came For' are led more by synth than guitar until their explosive endings, whilst album climax 'Lucid Dreams' presents a rocking verse-chorus structure until it degenerates into a lengthy glitch-synth breakdown.
Album closers 'Dream Again' and 'Katherine Kiss Me' trump any previous ballads the band has released, both containing minimal but effective arrangements. The former reverberates with percussion, bass and single synth notes, whilst the latter closes the album with a gentle acoustic guitar part, reminiscent of older track 'Eleanor Put Your Boots On'.
Taken as a whole, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is refreshing, and more sharply focused than their last album. Its immediacy and textural variety ensure that it sounds a more natural follow-up to their acclaimed debut, but with most of the apparent developments here little more than skin-deep, it remains to be seen how Franz Ferdinand will remain musically stimulating in years to come.
Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is out on Monday 26th January.
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