In 2022, Oxford band Foals will release its seventh album. It’ll be their first album as a trio, following keyboard player Edwin Congreave’s departure of the band to pursue a postgraduate degree in economics. A title, tracklisting and release date are still under wraps, but first single Wake Me Up is out now.

The track reveals a slightly different musical direction for the band. Adding funky guitars to their trademark syncopated rhythms and catchy hooks, Wake Me Up sounds like The Clash meets Chic. Frontman Yannis Phillipakis explains: ”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.”

About the single, he adds: “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 track was produced by John Hill (Portugal The Man, Florence & The Machine, Cage The Elephant). He also co-produced the rest of the upcoming album, together with Dan Carey (Tame Impala, Fontaines D.C.).

This week, Wake Me Up by Foals is the Carte Blanche Music Wildcard. This means it’ll feature here prominently for a full seven days.

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In the Wildcards 2021 playlist you’ll find all of this year’s Carte Blanche Music Wildcards so far.

Werner Schlosser

I’m a music industry watcher and journalist. Worked at a CD club, a record store chain and was editor in chief of an entertainment trade magazine. Have been in the radio business since 1987, producing and presenting shows. Was music director of several stations. Also, I developed the European Border Breakers Chart, Music Moves Europe Talent Chart and ESNS Chart. CEO of Werner Bros. tekst | uitleg.