Review Summary: Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" demonstrates staying power, maturity of sentiment and sound.
Like most of their long-standing listeners, I found myself brimming with eagerness when rumor emerged that old-hat Indie Brits
Franz Ferdinand were in the midst of creating a new album. This was around late 2011, and we expected a drop in early 2012...
When I found out the much-prolonged "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Actions" had finally hit stores, much of that excitement had dissipated, perhaps owing to a lack of media build-up and promotion, but I was still compelled to make the purchase -with the privilege of an unbiased mind, denied upon the 2009 release of omni-hyped Tonight: Franz Ferdinand (wonderful nonetheless). This eventual purchase has not been in vain - the boys present us with perhaps their most philosophical, feel-good and mature work, going a step further to prove that pop is not a dirty word.
Their title track, "Right Action" kicks off with a Kraftwerk-esque locomotion that quickly evolves into a one-lick wonder, structurally reminiscent of previous, simplistic hits "Do You Want To" and "Take Me Out". This one reveals a bit of the McCarthy / Kapranos world music flavor - bars punctuated with "HA!", like a Russian music caricature. Musically, the energy is definitely optimistic and more playful than Tonight, with an air of good-natured silliness.
The lyrics however give a taste of what's to come. Beginning with the line, "I come home, practically all is nearly forgiven / Right thoughts, right words, right action," I can't help but view this in the light of Tonight's rowdy protagonist arriving home after a concept-album's worth of nightlife and misbehavior, to a grounded loved-one. It seems the message from the get go is that this album will be wholesome and, dare I say it, spiritually grounded after their previous naughty romp, intensified by the line, "How can we leave you to a Saturday night and a Sunday morning?" It's Sunday morning, and the Franz boys are letting us in on their philosophy this time - this time it's a philosophical sermon.
Next up is "Evil Eye", a bit of haunted-discotheque funk, beginning again with an effect - a scream this time - and yet again employing a sort of jingle/ functional music kitsch riff, adding depth and creating something acutely danceable. It's hard not to interpret this one as an expression of atheist theology-student frontman Alex Kapranos's interest in omens despite his lack of faith, as he sings, "What's the color of the next car? / Yeah, red, ya bastard / Don't believe in god but believe in this ***" (the band has denied, however, that any of the tunes on the LP are about them). Where lyrical influence is left to speculation, musically this one blatantly exudes the 70's vibe that can be found throughout.
Another single, "Love Illumination", crops up next, with upbeat and incredibly catchy guitar and synth work, over which Nick and Alex seem to console the lonely and question whether the grass is greener on the other side ("Is the real over there more vivid than here ever feels?"). Their philosophizing here seems to conclude that the human condition is one of constantly seeking some kind of radiant love.
This is perhaps the love lost in the next track. "Stand On The Horizon" begins with a gentleness previously unseen in their works except perhaps in softies like "Katherine Kiss Me" and "Fade Together", scattered across their discography sparsely. Soon though, this becomes a full-fledged dance-rock track with the addition of what sounds like strings - an unusual addition for Franz - as well as a multi-level vocal with newfound great depth to Kapranos's voice, and a new intricacy of melody, on "North sea sings won't you come to me baby?", repeated like a mantra and left lingering.
"Fresh Strawberries" marks halfway - track 5 of 10. The philosophizing continues as it seems again to be reflection on an atheist's pining for purpose in a prosaic world of life, death and meaningless purchases in between. Religious text is rather blatantly referred to as the "instruction manual", for which the protagonist longs. The tune twists in and out of major and minor in fascinating ways without losing obvious auditory appeal, and perfectly highlighting the rhetorical question at hand, "Wouldn't it be easy to believe?". This one's a work of complex craftsmanship mastered by the band over the years.
A fast-pace intro that could have come right off of their second album, "You Could Have It So Much Better", begins the killer "Bullet", a track that breaks up the mood a bit with their smuttiest lyrics to date, rivaling even one of the band's earliest and most controversial singles, "Michael" (creating a stir for its "homoerotic" themes). "While I'm away, you can let the mouse go down on you, let the mouse do what I'd do if I was there..." come the unflinching vocals of McCarthy and Kapranos, with "the mouse" probably referring to the protagonist's lover's other lover of sorts. Never has jealousy and obsession sounded more optimistic and, well, even fun. It's a brief rocker, and finishes soon after two and a half minutes.
The theme of a "manual" of sorts recurs in "Treason! Animals", a song that had been tested out on live audiences under the name of "Trees and Animals". Despite its interesting title, the bulk of the song doesn't stick out vividly, until a smart chanting end, "I'm in love with a narcissist and I know for the mirror told me, I'm in love with my nemesis and I know for the mirror told me..." and so on.
Next up is a conceptual masterpiece, heartbreaking and unusual in sound as well as theme. "The Universe Expanded" seems to outline the theory that when the era of time ends, history will roll back and leave us all in the era of motionless space - from the perspective of its eventual effects on a relationship. Vivid images of reversed actions, such as wine being corked, cake being unbaked and tears rolling back create an eerie atmosphere. The listener is presented with an achingly beautiful outlook on what sort of break-up could occur if a relationship was rewinded and ended before it had begun "We'll part as happy strangers, after a long friendship that grew from such a love". This bitter but lovely tone is reminiscent of that in "Walk Away" off of "You Could Have It So Much Better", but now it has been perfected and blended maturely with science in a work of pure lyrical and musical genius.
Track 9, "Brief Encounters", re-introduces the 70's funk and brings a theme of social dissatisfaction - after all, the Franz Ferdinand boys are hardly boys anymore - they're men now, and possibly in the midst of mid-life crises. "Car-keys, choose your keys" pulses with the rhythmic brilliance they're known for - similar in feel to early single, "The Dark of the Matinee". I do feel it ends too suddenly, at just 3:09.
"Goodbye Lovers and Friends" is aptly titled for the closer, and begins with a Byzantine feel, interrupted by Kapranos commenting "Lovely." It's a cutting, sarcastic and unapologetic piece of work, with painfully apt vocals, promising an absolute end and delivering it.
On a whole, "Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action" demonstrates maturity of sentiment and sound sparse in today's youth-centric indie music scene of fast-pace brand-new attractive young hipster bands replacing each-other as The Next Best Thing faster than the speed of light. Franz Ferdinand prove that they've got staying power, wisdom, and all the rebel spirit they had to begin with, and their latest diamond provides a balance of serious, edifying subject matter and cool, sunny dance / rock infusion that's been lacking for some time. Right tunes, right guys, right album.
