Although Franz Ferdinand continued to update fans from their Myspace page over this time away, it felt as though the band was holed up somewhere waiting to come back into the light.
With Tonight they have done so with an exciting release which sees the boys shifting things ever so slightly.
Dub Meets Duran Duran
During the recording, the band often mentioned a dub vibe they were bringing into the mix on the next album. Tonight achieves what the band was after while staying true to their original goal of making girls dance, only in a different style this time.
As is the way for many musical jaunts, this effort is based on debauchery and the consequences of these behaviors. Thus the lyrics concern boys, girls and relationships between the two, but pack more beats per minute than the first two albums. The new album is somewhat reminiscent of early 1980’s Duran Duran, but with more swagger.
Tonight: Dance Music of Consequence
The first single, “Ulysses”, is a slinky, shimmery dance number traveling back and forth from whispering lyrics to a sing-song chorus. The modified sound is immediately seen as a bit darker than previous releases from the group. The song sounds like a darkened disco floor with splashes of strobe light during the chorus.
“No You Girls” sees a lyrical battle of the sexes backed by a hard-thumping bass, while “Bite Hard” should be the disclaimer to remain on the ride of the album.
“What She Came For”provides fans with a small return to a rock sound in the last 45 seconds of the song, with some fuzz-pedal and an abundance of cymbal added for special effect. With a sing-a-long chorus, this song is sure to result in dancing at the live shows. Tonight feels like a ride on a mysterious and frenzied round-about carnival attraction. Many of the tracks feature an organ permeating the sound overall with darker and sharper lyrical stylings than the first two efforts.
However, after “Lucid Dreams”, possibly the heaviest song of all, “Dream Again” slows down the pace and sounds very much like the end of a night out – quieter and a bit distorted. “Katherine Kiss Me” perfectly ends the story with an acoustic recall of lyrics from “No You Girls”, giving a feeling of waking up next to the individual you spent this night of debauchery with and realizing you might not have done so badly after all.
Four years has done nothing to slow down Franz Ferdinand. Tonight fits in the band's catalogue like the older brother of the first two releases.
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