Foals drop first single ‘Wake Me Up’ from upcoming “disco” album

Foals have released their new song ‘Wake Me Up’, their first single from their upcoming seventh album. 

The track premiered on Clara Amfo’s BBC Radio 1 show on Thursday (November 4) evening. It signals a change in direction from the band’s 2019 two-part album ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost’.

Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis said: “There’s a journey that the band has gone on experimenting with different palettes of sound. This time there was a desire to take it back to more of the initial idea of the band where the rhythm, the grooves and the guitars are interlocking architecturally. We wanted to tap into the physicality of music. And we wanted it to feel good.”

Described as “escapist” in a press release, ‘Wake Me Up’ was written during the Covid-19 pandemic in mid-winter, with the “oppressive” atmosphere influencing the group’s songwriting.

Philippakis added: ‘With ‘Wake Me Up’, I just wanted to write a song about transporting yourself to a better, idyllic situation.  I think we all had that feeling of the last eighteen months being like a weird fever dream that felt surreal but very affecting. I think we all wished we could have woken up somewhere else at various points.”

The song is said to be indicative of what to expect from Foals’ as-yet-untitled seventh album, which Philippakis describes as “our version of a dance or disco record” with lyrics that “transport oneself out of the oppression of lockdown and the bleakness of last year”.

‘Wake Me Up’ features production from John Hill,, Miles James and A.K. Paul, and mixing from Grammy award-winner Manny Marroquin.

The new album is produced by Hill and will be released in 2022.

All six of Foals’ albums have reached the top 10 in the UK album charts, with 2019’s ‘Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2’ earning them their first Number One.

Meanwhile, Foals – made up of Philippakis, Jimmy Smith and Jack Bevan – will be heading back on the road in April to support the new album.

Their UK headline tour includes four London shows at the Olympia before the band perform across Europe for the festival season. 

Foals UK tour dates 2022:

APRIL
20 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
21 – Usher Hall, Edinburgh
23 – Birmingham Arena, Birmingham
29 – Olympia, London
30 – Olympia, London

MAY
01 – Olympia, London
02 – Olympia, London
05 – Empress Ballroom, Blackpool
06 – Empress Ballroom, Blackpool
08 – O2 Brixton Academy, London