Franz Ferdinand has announced details of their new studio album, The Human Fear, which will be released on Friday, January 10th, 2025, on Domino.
Produced with Mark Ralph, who previously worked with them on their 2013 album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, the album showcases Franz at their most immediate, upbeat and life-affirming, unashamedly going for the pop-jugular in classic Franz style.
Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, The Human Fear’s 11 songs all allude to deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.
Talking about the album, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand said:
Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear. Fear reminds you that you’re alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.
The video for first single ‘Audacious’ was directed by long-time Franz collaborator Andy Knowles and filmed at Barrowland in Glasgow, over the years the scene of many a celebratory ‘homecoming’ gig for the band. Talking about the track Alex added:
It’s about having an audacious response when you feel the fabric of existence come undone around you. Being bold, contrary. Peering over the edge into the eternity of non-existence and saying Aye! Fuck it! Not today thank you!
Director Andy Knowles said about the video:
After listening to ‘Audacious’ for the first time it immediately felt like a song which needed a celebration of a video. I wanted to build on the jocular approach we took for ‘Curious’ in 2022, contrasting some of the more sombre moments of life with an explosion of fun when you look at things through an ‘audacious’ lens.
Watch the video for ‘Audacious’ BELOW:
Ever since their beginnings, throwing illegal parties in condemned Glasgow buildings, Franz Ferdinand have been defined by a fresh, unfading, forward-facing outlook, a transgressive art-school perspective, but with a love of a big song and The Human Fear undoubtedly continues in this tradition; distinct yet new, musically, and creatively it’s a record eager to push forward.
It was pretty much all written before they hit the studio. The idea was to have a songbook ready before they started recording, and once in the studio, it was all quickly executed—a lot of it was recorded live with the band in the room, and many of the vocals on the album are the original takes.
The first studio album to feature members Audrey Tait and Dino Bardot, the record also sees Julian Corrie step forward to collaborate with Alex Kapranos and Bob Hardy on songwriting and creative duties.
A band for whom the aesthetic and style is almost as important as the sound, as ever the importance of this is reflected in the cover artwork which was inspired by Hungarian artist Dóra Maurer’s self-portrait 7 Twists – Maurer’s work appealed because it does exactly what they want from their music: a striking immediacy that is impossible to ignore, but with a depth and vulnerability that bears many returns and satisfactory repetition.
Maybe this is a set of songs about fear, maybe this is a set of bangers from an era-defining band continuing their unquestionably living legacy. Is that something to be afraid of?
The track listing of the album is as follows:
1. Audacious
2. Everyday Dreamer
3. The Doctor
4. Hooked
5. Build It Up
6. Night Or Day
7. Tell Me I Should Stay
8. Cats
9. Black Eyelashes
10. Bar Lonely
11. The Birds
The band have also announced details of a short run of U.K / EU headline shows in the early part of 2025, before which they head to South America for a headline arena tour and a number of Mexican dates alongside The Killers. The full list of shows is as follows:
26.9.24 – Spa Pavilion – STRATHPEFFER – SOLD OUT
27.9.24 – Albert Halls – STIRLING – SOLD OUT
28.9.24 – The Venue – DUMFRIES – SOLD OUT
03.10.24 – Estadio 3 de Marzo – GUADALAJARA *
05.10.24 – Foro Sol – MEXICO CITY *
06.10.24 – For Sol – MEXICO CITY *
09.10.24 – Estadio Banorte – MONTERREY *
12.10.24 – Festival Pulso – QUERTARO, MEXICO
07.11.24 – Explanada del Parque de la Exposicion – LIMA
09.11.24 – Fauna Primavera – SANTIAGO
12.11.24 – Estadio Obras – BUENOS AIRES
14.11.24 – Tokio Marine Hall – SÃO PAULO
16.11.24 – Gran Carpa – BOGOTA
17.11.24 – Orquideorama – MEDELLIN
14.02.25 – Aula Magna – LISBON
15.02.25 – Sala Pelicano – A CORUNA
17.02.25 – La Riviera – MADRID
18.02.25 – Razzmatazz – BARCELONA
20.02.25 – Fabrique – MILAN
21.02.25 – X-Tra – ZURICH
22.02.25 – Muffathalle – MUNICH
24.02.25 – Huxleys Neue Welt – BERLIN
25.02.25 – Progresja – WARSAW
27.02.25 – La Cigale – PARIS
28.02.25 – Die Kantine – COLOGNE
01.03.25 – De Roma – ANTWERP
03.03.25 – Paradiso – AMSTERDAM
05.03.25 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – LONDON
07.03.25 – Barrowland – GLASGOW
*with The Killers
Tickets for the UK dates go on fan pre-sale at 10 am 18th September and general sale 10 am 20th September via www.franzferdinand.com
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