Franz Ferdinand return with new album and UK tour

It’s been four years since Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, the last Franz Ferdinand album proper. Earlier in the week on Twitter, the Glasgow band gave fans a few snippets of the new music they’ve been working on, but today they announce some concrete details. Their fifth studio album, called Always Ascending, will be released 9 February next year. Speaking to the NME, frontman Alex Kapranos suggested that the new album will see the band departing from their more guitar-driven roots. “This one sounds quite different from our previous records – it’s a bit wider and less of a ‘straight up guitar’ album,” he said.

Today they also released their new single, also titled Always Ascending, and their upcoming tour dates (which follow a secret warm-up show at the Rum Shack in Glasgow's Southside). Kapranos says the propulsive, synth-heavy title track gives just a hint of what to expect with the new album. “It’s just a taster. There are many more surprises to come,” he says.

The new synth-based sound might be due to the departure of guitarist Nick McCarthy, who left the band last year after 14 years with the indie outfit – McCarthy filled us in earlier this year on new project Manuela. Single Always Ascending is the first music we’ve heard from the band since their collaboration with Sparks, FFS. Take a listen to Always Ascending in the player below or listen on YouTube:

Always Ascending was recorded at RAK Studios, London and Motorbass in Paris, with the help of French producer Philippe Zdar (Cassius, Phoenix, Beastie Boys), and we’re told “the mutual affection between band and producer seeping into every dazzling groove.” Alex Kapranos refers to the record’s sound as “simultaneously futuristic and naturalistic.”

The band will launch the album tonight during a live streamed launch event at Point Ephémère in Paris, to be broadcast from the Franz Ferdinand Facebook page from 8.30pm (25 Oct), during which the band will preview a selection of their new recordings.

The band also announced their 2018 tour dates, which include just one show north of the border at the O2 Academy in Glasgow on 17 February.

The full tour dates and track listings for Always Ascending are below. Always Ascending is available to pre-order now and will be available on CD, vinyl and ltd edition cassette via DomMart, with a special DomMart edition, featuring marbled blue and white vinyl, with a signed print and tote bag.

Always Ascending’s tracklisting:
1. Always Ascending
2. Lazy Boy
3. Paper Cages
4. Finally
5. The Academy Award
6. Lois Lane
7. Huck And Jim
8. Glimpse Of Love
9. Feel The Love Go
10. Slow Don’t Kill Me Slow

UK tour dates:

10 Feb – Galway Leisureland
11 Feb – Dublin Olympia Theatre
13 Feb – Manchester Albert Hall
14 Feb – Nottingham Rock City
16 Feb – Newcastle O2 Academy
17 Feb – Glasgow O2 Academy
19 Feb – Leeds O2 Academy
20 Feb – Birmingham O2 Academy
21 Feb – Bristol O2 Academy
23 Feb – Cambridge Corn Exchange
24 Feb – London O2 Brixton Academy
25 Feb – Brighton Dome

Tickets will be available to purchase from 9am on Fri 3 Nov from franzferdinand.com