Bleep

The eponymous track that begins Franz Ferdinand’s fifth LP sets the scene perfectly. Opening with an ethereal flutter of piano and voices, ‘Always Ascending’ initially resembles the band’s 2014 single ‘Bullet’ on valium. However, about a minute in the drums get going, the synths kick into gear and Franz Ferdinand step into a new, sleek, dark disco mode. There’s a lot more New Order to this album than on previous FF records, and producer Philippe Zdar provides the same poppy electro sheen to Always Ascending that he brings to his day job as one half of Cassius. The likes of ‘Lazy Boy’ and ‘Lois Lane’ balance the whip-smart guitar playing of early Franz with cracking modular grooves to fine effect. And on the likes of ‘The Academy Award’ the band unleash the secret weapon they’ve always had in their arsenal - a way with a ballad.