"Life Is Yours" and "Wake Me Up," the opening volley from
Foals
' buoyant seventh studio effort, evokes
Daft Punk
by way of
Jungle
, harnessing the precision-tuned dance-pop of the former and the dark, R&B-tinged cinematics of the latter. Like its predecessor, 2019's apocalyptic double-album
Everything Not Saved Will Be Loved
,
Life Is Yours
is far removed from the band's punchy, post-rock past. Their first LP as a trio following the departure of keyboardist
Edwin Congreave
, the 11-song set delivers a barrage of maximalist pop that ebbs and flows like a long night out. Comprised primarily of party-starters like the disco-tinged "2001," the desperately horny "2am," and the
Nile Rodgers
-leaning "Wake Me Up,"
rarely lets up. Even the cavernous "Crest of the Wave" and the hypnotic, midtempo "Flutter" feel designed to keep arms aloft and glow sticks alight. Over the last few albums, guitarist/vocalist
Yannis Philippakis
, bassist
Jimmy Smith
, and drummer
Jack Bevan
have proven themselves perfectly capable of constructing the sonic architecture to house their dystopian dance-rock.
is the first
effort to utilize multiple outside producers (
John Hill
Dan Carey
A. K. Paul
, and
Miles James
). Fueled by the long-promised light at the end of the tunnel after the COVID-19 lockdown, it's also the band's most vibrant and accessible outing to date. ~ James Christopher Monger