"I've been to the darkest place I know / You my dear, shouldn't fear what lies below / it's just bones."What Remains
There is music that carries its heart on its sleeve and you know immediately that you'll return to it again and again. Then there are records like Total Life Forever, with songs that have the magnificent potential to grow into amazing, beautiful things right in front of your eyes if you give them time to play out. Foal's debut record Antidotes, strangely, is a good example for the former: The melancholy that dominates Total Life Forever is buried deeply under melodies that just beg the listener to dance, rather than ponder more complex emotions the record might evoke.
Total Life Forever is vast and spacious in comparison. The video that accompanies Spanish Sahara (a song that I, if I actually made lists of favourite songs of the year, would probably put right on top - "forget the horror here / leave it all down here / it's future rust and then it’s future dust") features a landscape that seems to fit the entire record, a beautiful, if snow-capped beach that seems to go on forever yet is detailed enough to keep the eyes busy. At times, Total Life Forever is delightfully playful, especially the first few seconds of Black Gold and the titular track.
So, once again: thank you, Skins. "It's your heart that gives me that Western feeling."
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