LONDON (AP) – Two decades ago, the Scottish rock band Franz Ferdinand sent a jolt across the music world. They waltzed in stripped-shirts and quickly became global icons for their deliriously hooky songs, hitting a critical mass in the chant-along singles Take Me Out and Do You Want To. A lot has changed in that time, but the band never wavered in their dedication to 2000s indie ebullience. Over the last few years there’s been a bit of an indie music resurgence, but for Franz Ferdinand, it never went away.
They will release The Human Fear,’ their sixth studio album and the first in seven years, making the end of the longest break between full lengths in their career.
Frontman Alex Kapranos says the album tackles relationships forming and breaking down. “The title is a clue to the scene,” he teased. “But it wasn’t written to the theme, at least not consciously.”
In an interview with The Associated Press (AP) in London, Kapranos and Franz Ferdinand bassist Bob Hardy discussed about The Human Fear, the resurgence of indie music and the band’s love for Chappell Roan and Charli XCX. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
AP: WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND ‘THE HUMAN FEAR’?
KAPRANOS: The last song that was written, the last lyrics that were written was (for) the song Hooked. It starts off with the line, “I’ve got the fear / I’ve got the human fear”.
And I realise that so many of the songs had an underlying theme of fear to them. But not necessarily succumbing to fear, but more like overcoming fear.
But fear is fascinating because fear is universal. We all experience fear. We all experience the same fears. But how we respond to it is individual. And that’s how we find who we are, our personalities. And overcoming fear feels good. That’s why we watch horror films or ride rollercoasters – because you overcome fear and then feel very alive for having done so.
AP: WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE CURRENT RESURGENCE OF INDIE?
HARDY: It’s never gone away.
KAPRANOS: There was a period in the late-2000s where there was point of saturation where, like, you turned on any mainstream radio show and you heard nothing but indie bands.
And when it becomes that saturated, maybe the quality control goes down slightly. And then when that happens, there’s always a reaction to it.
And I think over the last decade, there’s been a bit of, “Right, okay, so we’re going to listen to like pure pop instead.” And of course, there’s some brilliant stuff like Charli XCX. Amazing. Chappell Roan (is) incredible. But there’s a lot of stuff that’s maybe not quite premier tier as well. And I think there’s been maybe a little bit of a reaction to that.
I think from our perspective, just, yeah, make the thing that you love and then you’re not really going to go wrong. – Sian Watson
