Mark Robertson goes for a ride on the FRANZ FERDINAND media merry- go-round and uncovers a spanking new album, a new fringe and some seriously
un-hrp hop fan boy action. ‘ f anyone in this hand ever tried to act like a I rock‘n’roll star I think they would get such a slagging from the other hand memhersf Alex Kapranos declares laughing. ‘See. peer pressure can he a good thing.‘
Kaporanos. may not feel he and his compadres are walking the walk in the rock star stakes. hut they are. With the ohvious Oasis and ('oldplay-shat‘ied exceptions. they're among the higgest rock hands in the cottntry. .Aftcr tnore false starts than a jakcys' ()0 yard dash. I finally track them down the afternoon hefore they‘re due to appear on l’rirluy Are/r! H'fI/I Jonathan Ross. l)ownright chirpy frontman Alex Kapranos and stoic. affahle hassman Boh llardy are huddled into an open-fronted shed construction reserved for the remaining lepcrs that deign to work and smoke at the BB("s monolithic London headquarters. While their handmates guitarist Nick McCarthy and drummer Paul 'l‘homson finish of their part in a kids TV show. the pair elucidate on the many joys encountered riding on the rollercoastcr of emotion that is Fran/ Ferdinand.
Alex Kapranos has ohviously changed since our last encounter: he‘s grown hack his masterful. foppish fringe. i suggest only a proper rock star would have young women starting a campaign to grow it hack after he turned up at the Brits sporting a suave 50s llat top. He refuses to he drawn on the suhject. giggling hashfully. than three years into their pop life. Fran/ l-‘erdinand are ahout to drop their second long player on our laps. the magnilicently vcrhosc lim ('ou/(l Have it So .llur/z Bel/w: ('ltanccs are you‘ll love it.
‘\\'e wanted to try things that hrought a little emotional depth to the record.‘ Kapranos explains. "There’s a much greater emotional dynamic on this record.‘
That isn’t to say they've got a hold of .lack White’s marimhas touch!) and hroken out in a groovy lumhago jive. hut the more reflective moments (and lair enough there‘s only a few). on )im ('ou/(l. . . represent a step into uncharted territory. The winsome folkpop of ‘Fadc Together" and ‘lileanor Put Your Boots 011' take the frenetic pace down from what regulars might he used to. ()f ’lileanor. . a trihute to Kapranos‘ current lady friend lileanor Friedhcrger ofl'S indie outlit the Fiery l-‘urnaces he says: ‘lt's an easing hack in terms of intensity hut it‘s also a vet')' uplifting song. It is one of the sweetest tracks the hand have ever committed to tape.
Hardy reinforces the organic nature of their musical development. “There‘s no plan. It‘s just instinctive. going
l.css
Four tops
with you gut. That's the way it has always got to he.‘
For those craving something more familiar. songs ‘()utsider'. "The Fallen' and 'l’m Your Villain' follow their original template. equalling moments of their celehrated dehut. But they’re conscious of not being painted into a stylistic corner. citing pioneers from the Beatles top the Specials as role models.
‘I think there‘s a great encouragement nowadays for hands to create a brand for themselves. Like they‘re the hand who do one particular thing. And I think that‘s really dangerous. livery hand should he “the hand that did this for one record and then they did that for their next one". Thith our aim.‘
Jump hack to the end of August. Beneath the militaristic glamour of lidinhurgh Castle. Franz Ferdinand perform two sold out shows at Princes Street (iardens. The second is lilmed for a live [)VI) and. true to form. the first night is a glorious late summer evening while during the second. nagging drizzle coats the 6000- strong crowd. The nervy performances of the first night are cast aside. replaced hy a near perfect rattle through (not very) old favourites that turns drizzle to steam and lines up previously unheard songs as anthems in
waiting. liven so. ‘ALL I EVER spoil the whole shehang hefore it even starts: ‘You Do have that immense space to play and you have IN A some tosser sitting there being a total johs‘wotth. l don‘t think they managed to spoil things thoughf Kapranos muses. 'lt still felt quite special.’ are playing live for 500 screaming Radio 1 competition winners at a special live hroadcast at London‘s Scala. The hand are suitahly lired up. a reminder that their stage act is less of an act and more a state of mind which transcends geography. The hand relish the chance to
‘lt’s quite a kick to do a show that small because the audience can literally reach out and touch you.’ Kapranos says. ‘We‘ve been doing festivals and it feels like they're 100 yards away. Sometimes they actually are!‘
Three days later we're in the foyer of BBC television appearance on l-‘rhluy Night with Jonathan Ross. While this is their first major terrestrial TV appearance for some time. the real excitement is another chance meeting with self-confessed Franz fan and erstwhile crown prince of hip hop Kanye West. who is dropping in
No one is even touching the ohligatory basket of fmit in Franz Ferdinand‘s crimson dressing room. One or two crew memhers and the odd wife or girlfriend mill ahout as a guitar is passed round and signed by the hand for competition winner.
bureaucracy threatens to WANTED T0 with his sound gauge Skip to a little over ten days later and Franz Ferdinand play such an intimate venue again. centre. the hand arrive for the recording of an to chew the fat with the Beeh‘s king of 'wiotous‘ chat. In gentle contrast. Kanye West arrives with a man b
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