Inhaler- Foals

From the start, with the sound of echoic guitars sounding as if they are resonating down a street tunnel, you get the feeling that Foals have finally matched vision to product. Inhaler, the first single from their new album Holy Fire, is a very bombastic song but yet still maintains artistic cohesiveness. Three years since 2010's Total Life Forever, Foals have finally learned how to display what they want. The tones, effects and mixing are done flawlessly on Holy Fire such that they complement the vision of the individual song and Inhaler is a perfect example. The slow build-up of layers- claustrophobic, chaotic even- over top of the lustfully reverberated voice of Yannis Philippakis culminates and explodes. " ...and I can't get enough space"- he wails- as the song, which has built up perfectly, is blown into the atmosphere; only grounded by the drudgy, over driven guitars. The song never loses its drive and pushes the listener to the end. The true genius of this song is how expansive it feels, but yet maintains to stay grounded. This is a comforting and terrifying thought: if this is Foals with one foot still on the ground, imagine what could happen if they jumped.