What Went Down [LP]

by Foals

Overview

After the international chart success of 2013's Holy Fire, Foals officially embrace that album's rich, atmospheric post-punk revivalism over the rawer math rock tendencies of earlier LPs for their fourth full-length, What Went Down. Only ghostly traces of math rock remain on the album, such as when sustained synths wash over interlocking drum-guitar meters on the closer, "A Knife in the Ocean." The majority of the record avoids any prior levels of intricacy, opting instead for intense airiness in the form of passionate, danceable ruminations. Above all, the album is driving; even at relatively sleepier moments, drums kick in as if on cue and set any lost momentum back on track ("Give It All"). Vocalist Yannis Philippakis pushes his voice harder than ever before here, both in terms of range and strain, and his ability to at times resonate like Ian Curtis and soar like Bono is no small feat. The sparkling, rockin' title-track opener introduces his yowl with a clamoring swagger throughout the instrumentation, and with lyrics like "I buried my guilt in a pit in the sound/With the rust and the vultures and the trash downtown." Also vigorous, the particularly post-punky, motoric "Snake Oil" later plows straight into the lighter but rhythmically locomotive-like "Night Swimmers." There are calmer moments, like the slower, more spare "London Thunder ("I'm on the red-eye flight to nowhere good"), but the album's intensity and pulse remain. Ultimately, What Went Down should please fans of Holy Fire, and they may not be the only ones drawn to its gloomy and persistent energy. ~ Marcy Donelson

Product Details

Release Date:	08/28/2015
Label:	Warner Bros.
UPC:	0825646075034
Rank:	33868

Tracks

1. What Went Down
2. Mountain at My Gates
3. Birch Tree
4. Give It All
5. Albatross
6. Snake Oil
7. Night Swimmers
8. London Thunder
9. Lonely Hunter
10. A Knife in the Ocean

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Foals   Primary Artist
Jimmy Smith   Guitar,Keyboards,Synthesizer,Guitar,Keyboards,Synthesizer
Edwin Congreave   Keyboards
Walter Gervers   Bass,Vocals,Guitar (Bass),Vocals (Background)
James Ford   Guitar,Keyboards,Percussion,Synthesizer,Guitar,Guitar,Keyboards,Percussion
Jack Bevan   Drums
Yannis Philippakis   Guitar,Vocals

Technical Credits

James Smith   Composer
Mark Ronson   Composer
Jimmy Robertson   Engineer
Greg Wales   Recording
Alan Moulder   Mixing,Mixing Engineer
Foals   Composer,Photography
Jimmy Smith   Composer
John Davis   Mastering,Mastering Engineer
Edwin Congreave   Composer
Walter Gervers   Composer
Michael Chabon   Composer
James Ford   Producer,Producer,Producer
Jack Bevan   Composer
Yannis Philippakis   Composer,Art Direction
Damien Arlot   Assistant,Studio Assistant
Neil Krug   Photography
Kevin Parker   Composer
James Ellis Ford   Composer
Caesar Edmunds   Mixing,Mixing Engineer,Mixing Assistant
Mike Lythgoe   Design
Daisuke Yokota   Cover Art,Photography