FRANZ FERDINAND

Produced with Mark Ralph, who previously worked with them on their 2013 album Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, the album showcases Franz at their most immediate, upbeat and life-affirming, unashamedly going for the pop-jugular in classic Franz style.

Recorded at AYR studios in Scotland, the 11-songs on The Human Fear all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.

Talking about the album, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand said:

Making this record was one of the most life-affirming experiences I’ve had, but it’s called The Human Fear. Fear reminds you that you're alive. I think we all are addicted in some way to the buzz it can give us. How we respond to it shows how we are human. So here’s a bunch of songs searching for the thrill of being human via fears. Not that you’d necessarily notice on first listen.

The video for first single ‘Audacious’ was directed by long-time Franz collaborator Andy Knowles and filmed at Barrowland in Glasgow, over the years the scene of many a celebratory ‘homecoming’ gig for the band. Talking about the track Alex added:

It’s about having an audacious response when you feel the fabric of existence come undone around you. Being bold, contrary. Peering over the edge into the eternity of non-existence and saying Aye! Fuck it! Not today thank you!

Director Andy Knowles said about the video:

After listening to ‘Audacious’ for the first time it immediately felt like a song which needed a celebration of a video. I wanted to build on the jocular approach we took for ‘Curious’ in 2022, contrasting some of the more sombre moments of life with an explosion of fun when you look at things through an ‘audacious’ lens.