Almost 10 years after "Take Me Out" helped the band break through commercially, win a Mercury Prize and craft a zeitgeist-defining sound — and two years after a rumored breakup — Franz Ferdinand returns with its first new album since 2009. It's the Glaswegian dance-rock ambassadors' best work since their 2004 arrival: Confident and freshly energized, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action captures the ease of pressure that comes with knowing that a decade-old band can't be co-opted as a cool new thing.
Out August 27, the album is worthy of its title, a mantra for Franz Ferdinand's expertly executed sound. Singer Alex Kapranos once said the group would make "music for girls to dance to," and the propulsive bass lines and immediate drumming align on Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action to fulfill that statement. The provocation to move feels especially resounding in standout tracks like "Bullet" and the disco-dripping single "Right Action."
It's a sound that should never go out of style. So here's to a Cher-like run of triumphant returns, in which Franz Ferdinand comes back each decade with hits engineered to remind us of the joy of rock n' roll.
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