Consistency is a fickle thing, especially in the music business. You build a rapport with your initial fans, of course. You debut your band to the world, because you have this awesome, unique sound, which you know people will like, and you're dying to share. Then comes the tricky part. Because music is like an art form, and the only way it's really interesting is if it's constantly evolving. You want to advance your style, to attract a new, broader audience, but don't want to lose your true fans who have supported your collective through thick and thin. Plenty of bands struggle with this difficult decision - the decision of changing to make their sound better, or choosing not to fix something that isn't broken - and both roads are well travelled.
But there is one band whose style, grace, eclectic nature, and wonderfully fun musical vibrancy which has done the unheard of: they have maintained the musical stylings that they began their career with, while maturing and evolving their musical expressions into a sexy, smooth, sleek sound that continues to impress. They have entirely usurped the cliché that a band can not remain themselves with any amount of consistency as they continue to grow and make new, grandiose musical hits. They effortless set themselves apart from their peers with their distinct sound and exciting presentation and image. Though, I guess these things come naturally when you name yourself after Austrian Archdukes. This band is, in fact, Franz Ferdinand, after all.
Some may not remember, but back in the day (we're talking 2004, folks), if you had your eye out for new music - and kept aforementioned eyes pinned to the telly - you were likely to have caught wind of a certain new music that was causing a lot of chatter amongst musically intrigued. Something about a fabulously directed video, using tons of abstract images, and quirky, vintage looking pop-art. The song had an incredibly addictive beat, and the lyrics quite a blast to sing along to. And all anyone really knew was that the song belonged to some impeccably dressed band from Scotland who nobody really ever heard of.
Franz Ferdinand certainly has come quite a long way from their eponymous freshman release and songs like "Take Me Out" and "The Dark of the Matinée." After about seven years, which have led these folks all around the world playing their danceable art rock, Franz Ferdinand has come full circle in their sound with the release of their third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. For the die-hard fan who has been listening since the release of Franz Ferdinand, Tonight presents a definite change in Franz Ferdinand's sound. But of course, sound was a big issue to be addressed by the band.
They point this out in their mini-documentary for Tonight: Franz Ferdinand. "Part of the evolution of a band is developing a sound and an identity.... if you're going to move on, you're going to have to lose certain elements of your previous sound." Indeed, Franz Ferdinand planned the change, and the change shows. Tonight emphasizes a strong element of electronic instrumentation, taking away from the odd aesthetic of off-kilter chords and wild guitar strumming that Franz Ferdinand built their sound upon in the past. "We used a lot more electronic gear on this record, but we tried to play it live as a band."
This natural element shines forth in Tonight as well. Every song on the record sounds vibrant, novel, and crisp. But the shift in style goes beyond Franz Ferdinand's evolution of from aesthetics, into the ideals of a switch in mood. You Could Have It So Much Better had "Fade Together," and "Eleanor Put Your Boots Back On," both songs which were more sombre and toned down for the Scottish quartet's usual styles. None of this same sort of calm sentimentalism on Tonight; this is part of the skin Franz Ferdinand has shed in their evolution. Tonight ends in a sort of quiet reflection with "Dream Again," and an almost perky love ditty, "Katherine Kiss Me." And these are the only two exceptions on the record.
The rest of the album is a sheer torrent of dancing, sweating, and feisty belligerence. In the same way Architecture In Helsinki separated from their original sound on Places Like This, Franz Ferdinand opted that Tonight should express two ideals very concretely: raucous fun and rampant frivolity. 'Come on, let's get high. Well, I'm bored... I'm bored. Let's get high!' chants the lyrics of "Ulysses" as the introduction song builds until it blasts straight into a chorus of wild parties and drunken nights of soaking rain lost in downtown Glasgow. And, how do they say? 'The night is still young.' Indeed, Tonight is still young after the last squeaks and squeals trail off at "Ulysses'" end. Then your hurled through a hurricane of dance-rock-art-pop rock that is scientifically crafted to make your body move.
Heavy in bass and electronic keyboards, among other abstract ambient noises which add a thorough density, Tonight is a steady, invigorating, enlivening lecture in fêtes. Franz Ferdinand's past style has always been somewhat danceable, but extravagantly boisterous, attitude packed anthems like "Turn It On," "No You Girls," and "What She Came For," are the sort of songs that make club DJs drool and leave listeners weak at the knees. And this doesn't even begin to touch on how expressive Tonight. As Alex Kapranos says, "Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is music... to fling yourself around your room to as you psyche yourself for a night of hedonism, for the dance-floor, flirtation, for your desolate heart-stop, for losing it and loving losing it, for the chemical surge in your bloodstream. Its for that lonely hour gently rocking yourself waiting for dawn and it all to be even again."
The entire album boils down to "Lucid Dream," which is possibly Franz Ferdinand's most experimental song to date. Beginning in an almost reminiscent mood, recollective of something on the tame side, such as "Walk Away," "Lucid Dream" breaks out of its shells into a devilish, disorienting, hypnotic four-minute long instrumental that will break the bass on any speaker that has reached the appropriate volume. A song you'd expect off !!!'s latest album. It's a trip, to explicate as eloquently as possible. But all the while, throughout Franz Ferdinand's graphic changes, they have retained a certain part of themselves. Something distinct, unique, to the surreptitious to these silly Scots. While their new sound is different, it will certainly not detract any lovers of everything that is Franz Ferdinand.
They say things are "changing for the better." Sometimes change isn't a good thing, sure. But they also say that sometimes, you can have "too much of a good thing." That's the story of Franz Ferdinand: too much of a good thing, so they made it better. Tonight: Franz Ferdinand is a rowdy and boisterous celebration of partying, and is a record that can't be missed those under the beat of the dancing hearts.
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