Foals are planning to make a new record this year.
The indie rockers returned with their first studio effort since 2015, 'Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Part 1' in 2019 - with' Part 2' put out in October that year - and frontman Yannis Philippakis has revealed he and his bandmates have started tinkering with ideas for new music, though he has no idea when a follow-up will be released.
He told NME: “I wouldn’t say that the oven has reached its proper temperature yet, but the ingredients are being gathered in the kitchen. We’ll start making a record this year, but I don’t know when it will be ready. We’re going to start putting our heads together and there are lots of exciting and promising starts.”
The band have just released stripped-back renditions of songs from the two albums as part of their long-running 'CCTV Sessions' and would like to tour some intimate venues playing a full 'CCTV' live set, while they haven't ruled out releasing an acoustic record.
Yannis said when asked if the sessions will inform their next LP: “I think we could, but what would be really fun would be to do a small tour of small, intimate venues, old chapels and factories and just do a 'CCTV' live set.
“I’m not sure where we’re at with it informing the next record, but I could see us doing a record that’s more stripped-back and has more of these textures.”
Meanwhile, the 'My Number' hitmakers are due to embark on a UK tour in May, if it's safe to do so amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But the 34-year-old musician admitted they are not keen on the idea of socially distanced shows, because a Foals gig is all about the "big, sweaty congregation".
Yannis said of the pause on touring at the moment: “We’re ready to play shows. We’re really missing it. If we can, we will jump at the chance to play as soon as possible – I’m just not sure how realistic that would be. We want to be prudent about it and make sure that the shows can go ahead in the best way and be safe as well as raucous and fun.
“I don’t know how practical it would be for us to do a socially distanced show. A lot of what’s great about the Foals shows is people coming together en masse and it being something that feels unimaginable right now, which is just a big, sweaty congregation. We’ll just have to see how that goes. We’re really missing it and we can’t wait to hit the road, but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
However, when they are back on stage, he added: “It’s going to be a celebration of the things that we once took for granted. We’re really going to cherish those moments.”
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