Franz Ferdinand
Always Ascending

More electronic sounds in the newly released album by Franz Ferdinand. With the new five-member formation stabilized, the ten tracks comprising the work range from pop-funk to disco, synth, and new wave.
After the title-track “Always ascending,” a dancefloor number, it continues with “Lazy boy,” a track in which the Scots' typical sounds seem to return, with constant changes in rhythm. "Paper cages" instead is typically pop in its progression, almost completely foregoing guitars to make room for electronics.
Also worth mentioning is the emotional and reflective “Slow don’t kill me slow,” and the semi-acoustic ballad “The academy award.” After the work produced together with Sparks, dated 4 years ago, Franz Ferdinand had to take a well-deserved break to reflect on what their future could be and what path to take.
In the meantime, after losing Nick McCarthy, the new guitarist Dino Bardot (ex-1990s) was brought in, becoming an effective member of the group.
The new album titled “Always ascending,” produced by P. Zdar, seems to be moving towards a direction close to club sound, with flatter arrangements compared to their pounding rhythms, where guitar riffs used to be their predominant focus. But this choice should not be read exclusively in a negative sense, as it has benefited from a more marked melodic line, proving to be successful in some songs such as the eccentric “Huck and him.” With this latest album, the Glasgow band has definitively proved to have reinvented itself while always remaining a pop-funk group that cannot give up the “rhythm,” a trademark of their music.

Rating: 7