Foals
Total Life Forever
(Sub Pop)

Hot on the heels of their successful debut album, Foals return with Total Life Forever, an atmospheric album that straddles the lines of indie rock, funk, and electronica. Listeners who are looking for deep lyrics probably won’t be partial to this record due to how repetitive the lines are, but Total Life Forever is less about words and more about movement. Most of the tracks have a similar progression, beginning in a mellow fashion and then acquiring more elements until the end nearly sounds like a different song, even with the same lyrics. “Black Gold” and “Spanish Sahara,” two tracks that boldly stretch beyond the six-minute mark, switch intensity in the middle to make their repetition sound anything but monotonous. The true standouts are “Blue Blood,” which sounds like what would happen if Fleet Foxes were introduced to LCD Soundsystem, and “This Orient,” the album’s most straightforward rock song with layered, experimental vocals at the beginning and end. Fans of Foal’s first album will not be disappointed by their return, and they ought to reach new audiences from those who want to relax with their headphones or those who want to dance to something more interesting than the usual pop remixes.