UK rockers FOALS just dropped the video for their new single, Into The Surf. The single is one off the second part of their Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost project, a reference to a Nintendo quit-screen. Into The Surf is the third film clip to be released from part two of the album, the others being The Runner and Black Bull.
FOALS are known for their innovative video style, expansive concepts and strong messaging, particularly featuring elements like fire and water, so to celebrate the new release, we thought we’d look back on some of their best music videos over the years.
Exits
The band spoke with Cool Accidents earlier this year about their new album Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, a massive two-parter dropping over a couple of releases. During the interview, they mentioned the influence that television shows like Black Mirror and Game Of Thrones have on their videos, and this is probably the clip that highlights this influence the most. It even features Game Of Thrones star and friend of the band, Isaac Hempstead Wright, AKA Bran Stark.
Black Bull
The video for Black Bull is dark and, at times, unnerving, reflective of one of Foals’ heaviest songs. There's no overblown concept to this one - it's a dramatic but understated clip featuring the band playing live and a black bull running in slow motion through a big flowered wall. Bringing to mind imagery of Dia de los Muertos, the clip is packed full of energy and intensity.
A Knife In The Ocean
The video opens with landscape shots reminiscent of an SBS foreign film. The frame is then filled with colour when the camera heads underwater and distorted images of jellyfish and other underwater scenes are illuminated by flashes of blue and green. The video then explodes into chaos in glorious technicolour, drawing from the lyrics about fires and hungry seas for inspiration. The video ends in tumultuous, psychedelic images of fire and water.
Sunday
The bright colours and dreamlike imagery at the beginning of this video perfectly complement the mellow, synth-driven first half of the song, before picking up to match the rest of the track. From Leif Podhajsky, director of A Knife In The Ocean, Sunday is another great FOALS video using multiple exposures to create some truly stunning visuals.
Cafe D’Athens
A video as sporadic and colourful as the song itself, the clip centres around a vase of blooming flowers and the band themselves, all shot on film. It's a vibey song and it's no surprise they've gone for something a bit more abstract for this video.
Mountain At My Gates
Filmed using GoPro spherical technology and one of FOALS' more innovative and experimental clips, this interactive film clip allows viewers to watch the band from different angles. The 360-degree panorama highlights the incredible editing of the video - every direction you turn, Yannis and the band are present - as well as the band’s performance and the setting of the video, a decrepit old building, nestled between towering mountains.
The Runner
The Runner may be FOALS’ newest video, but it has already proven to be one of their best. The video features lead singer Yannis Philippakis travelling to different worlds as he grapples with a strange doppelganger. Throughout the course of the video, the pair jumps into paintings, are thrown through billboards and end up in many otherworldly settings, including a burning forest and a world with sheets for skies. You can read more about the video for The Runner here.
Spanish Sahara
This visually stunning video opens with a wide shot of a lone figure wandering through a snowy landscape, highlighting the isolated vocal/synth line, and immediately catching the viewer’s attention. As the music gains layering and complexity, so does the narrative, and the figure’s struggle through the icy plains is artfully brought into focus.
Pick up FOALS merch here as well as Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost Pt 2 on October 18th.
