Summarize this content to 2000 words in 6 paragraphs in Arabic Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Franz Ferdinand’s peak years were during the indie boom on either side of the Atlantic in the 2000s. That was when they won Brit awards and sold more than 1.2mn copies of their debut album in the UK alone. Their name evokes the era of skinny trousers and reviewers referring to “angular guitars” as surely as their namesake does the events of 1914. But unlike the ill-fated archduke, the Scottish-English band hasn’t disappeared into the annals of history.The Human Fear is their sixth album, and the first since 2018. Of the original quartet who formed Franz Ferdinand in Glasgow in 2002, only singer Alex Kapranos and bassist Bob Hardy remain in what is now a quintet. The 11 tracks last a sprightly 35 minutes. There are knowing glances at the musical template laid down 20 years ago. “Night or Day” has a vintage glam-pop feel reminiscent of one of their signature hits, “Do You Want To”. The busy Strokes-like riff at the start of “Audacious” is a deliberate simulacrum of the, ahem, angular guitars of 2000s indie. The song, which proceeds to acquire a cheery Britpop character, is about getting through life’s wobbles.The album isn’t without its own wobbles. “Cats”, about a person’s untamable inner nature, conspires to be at once jaunty and dull. “Bar Lonely” is a routine indie jangler about drinking away solitude. The songs are more interesting when they observe the message of boldness preached by Kapranos in “Audacious”. “Black Eyelashes” borrows from the sound of Greek tavern music, a nod to the homeland of the singer’s father. “Tell Me I Should Stay” is a moody piano-rocker that makes abrupt transitions into Beach Boys uplift.Facing down fears is a theme running through the songs. Enough of the old swagger remains. Kapranos utters lyrics with a showman’s relish, twirling “neighbours” into a rhyming couplet with “same as us”. His determination to keep the band going is wittily allegorised by standout track “The Doctor”. Accompanied by a lively burst of synth-rock, the vocalist takes the role of a recovered patient in a hospital who doesn’t want to leave because he likes it there so much. “I’ve become accustomed to this level of attention,” he sings in his declamatory manner, all but winking at the fans in the front row.★★★☆☆‘The Human Fear’ is released by Domino on January 10
