Ulysses

Song: Ulysses
Artist: Franz Ferdinand
Album: Tonight: Franz Ferdinand




With only two albums under their belt I was quick to call Franz Ferdinand one of my favorite bands. I’ve been eager for a follow-up to their 2005 sophomore album “You Could Have it So Much Better,” which I absolutely loved, so I have been absorbing their latest, “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand” for the last couple days. Several months ago when they first announced the new record a song, “Lucid Dreams” was leaked to the internet and played on their site. I liked the song enough, but thought it might be album filler… certainly not a first single. Then a couple weeks ago official first single “Ulysses” was released. If I’m honest I was a little underwhelmed. But look at their track record… “Take me Out” from their self titled debut kick-started them onto the scene and is one of my favorite songs of all time. I have never gotten tired of it. And “Do You Want To” from “YCHISMB” was, in my opinion the most perfect of pop songs. It wasn’t as big a hit, but I have no shame in letting you know that its play count on my iTunes is upward of 200+. Yeah… a fan here.

Now that I have been listening to “Tonight,” I get that they may have given up on writing the perfect single. And the album does not suffer in the least. “Ulysses” is actually a pretty killer song, its hooks, catchiness, and mysterious lyrics that draw from a poem by Homer, open slowly. Now when it opens the album I see why it’s the first single, but it’s certainly not the best thing on the album.

It was rumored that the album would take the band in a much more dance direction which is partially true, but it’s all Franz. Ironically, it’s a return to Franz’s more loose songs, at times messy and gritty and not as produced as their sophomore album. That said they play with electronic beats and synths like they never have before, including the now eight plus minute long “Lucid Dreams,” which has an electro breakdown in the middle. I like it better than the linked version quite a bit. I’m still listening, but I already get the feeling that it could turn out to be one of my favorite records of 2009.

Enjoy.

Ulysses

This video is so gritty