Foals What Went Down (180g Vinyl LP)

For album number four, Foals teamed up with producer James Ford (Arctic Monkeys, Florence & The Machine, Jessie Ware, Mumford & Sons) and retreated to the South of France to record in a rural 19th-century mill. The 2015 result is a primal, intense, sometimes harrowing album of extremes - the record touches upon the depths of madness whilst also exhibiting some of the most beautiful pop songs the band have ever written. 

Lyrically, vocalist Yannis Philippakis deals with themes around cultural identity, generational anxiety, cynicism, pessimism and heartbreak; "I wanted to tap into my inner madman and feel like I was channeling some sort of fevered creature." Famously provocative, Philippakis is in turns destructive, obsessive, ambitious, and quick-witted with a razor-sharp tongue.

The first single and title cut is a ferocious monster of a track and a statement of intent that is sure to cement Foals' position as one of Britain's most illustrious bands. Evoking the blackest depths of an abyss, frenetic, frenzied and theatrical in its delivery, "What Went Down" is one of the most visceral songs from Foals to date - it signaled the return of a band who made their name in 2006 playing at house parties, and who, six years later, in 2013, morphed into UK festival headliners.