“Might start writing a record & making soap,” Yannis Philippakis tweeted in March 2020, just a few days before England went into lockdown. While there’s no news on the Foals singer-guitarist’s range of bath bombs, that record is now imminent. Called Life Is Yours, it’s due next month with early reports throwing around descriptions like “euphoric”, “sunny”, and even “best of their career”.
Yannis Philippakis isn’t averse to getting into the crowd. You might say he loves it: the Foals singer has even been known to leap off the stage at such usually restrained affairs as a Rough Trade in-store performance.
But as the band’s following grows and they graduate to ever larger venues like Alexandra Palace, it’s been increasingly difficult for the average fan to get in on the very physical audience participation.
So intimate shows, like a free album release party at London’s House of Vans, are like catnip for fans wanting the full visceral experience. And a sweaty, raucous, body-breaking experience is certainly what the lucky 850 ticket holders (picked from over 40,000 applicants) get tonight.
Nils van der Linden