Foals - Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1

Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1 (Part 2 will follow in September) is the first album from Foals since founding member and bassist Walter Gervers left at the beginning of 2018. Jeremy Pritchard from Everything Everything has replaced him live but Edwin Congreave and Yannis Philippakis handle the bass parts on the album. How will they fair after losing such a key band member?

The album starts with the ambient pads and acoustic guitar arpeggios of Moonlight. Philippakis’s strong, throaty vocal soon joins in, followed by programmed drums. It is a quiet song but Philippakis fully commits to the vocal. Exits follows. It is the first single and is propelled by Jack Bevan’s strong drums. I found Foals’ last album, What Went Down, quite oppressive in terms of the sheer volume and density of the arrangements, but Part 1 seems to have toned this down and the arrangements have more room to breathe even though the Foals’ intricate interplay and layering of parts are still very much present. Exits is a strong song and an obvious single; a return to the more obvious belters on Antidotes, Total Life Forever and Holy Fire. There is also room for an extended coda that reminds us that Foals are a band that jams their songs into shape. White Onions is more urgent, with more strong drums from Bevan as Philippakis, Congreave and Jimmy Smith weave around each other. The song itself is a breathless banger that is built around a huge and unruly bass line. Congreaves’ stabbing synth chords lead In Degrees, with Philippakis harmonising with himself. Again, the song is urgent and dancefloor-friendly. The song ends in an electronic Talking Heads/Fela Kuti chart. Syrups is steadier and is built around a splendid, elastic bass riff. Smith and Philippakis trade lead lines, Bevan holds it all down and Congreave’s keyboards chatter and swoop in and around the arrangement. There is a superb section, much like in Spanish Sahara, where a delayed effect is picked up by the whole band. On The Luna begins with some excellent interplay between keyboards and guitar and then erupts into another absolute belter with Philippakis mainly singing in falsetto. There is something very Duran Duran about the dynamics on this track – it’s big and brash. Café D’Athens starts out a bit more like Japan with its chattering Oriental-sounding keyboards. Bevan’s drums skip rather than strut on this and Philippakis is back in his falsetto range. The song is simultaneously restrained and busy. Foals continue in a Japan/Sakamoto vein on the brief interlude that is Surf Pt.1, before the slow and easy groove of Sunday enters. The song itself is huge and is certain to go over very well when played live, especially if Foals do the festivals this summer. Towards the end the song expands into a classic Foals groove/jam. The album concludes with the lovely piano ballad, I’m Done With The World (& It’s Done With Me) which sails quite close to the late Mark Hollis and also Jason Pierce.

Obviously, I can’t know for sure but the amicable departure of Walter Gervers appears to have had a galvanising effect on Foals. Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 1 is an excellent example of everything that they do well. The interplay, the dynamics, the grooves and the sheer strength of their songwriting, playing and singing. As soon as it finished, I played it again. When you’re as old and over-exposed to music as I am, that very rarely happens.