****I was truly ready to hate this album. The false starts in recording, the numerous producers rejected, the fact that it's a concept album about a night out, even the sight of the album cover turned me off. It all led me to believe that after a four year gestation period, this album was going to be a huge disappointment. Well, much to my surprise, it isn't.
What Kapranos and Co have done is not so much reinvent themselves as push things forward - a cop out you might suggest? Possibly, but where they were in danger of disappearing up their own backsides, they've instead managed to strike the balance between innovation and maintaining their ever so precious pop sensibilities.
'Ulysses' is a red herring. It almost sounds like a self parody with it's trademark "la, la, la's" but once you get passed the opener and the underwhelming 'Turn It On' you start to realise that there's plenty to appreciate. 'No You Girls' is a fantastically gleeful stomp, pulsating in all the right places, 'Twilight Omens' is infectious and urgent and 'What She Came For' has a guitar solo of the likes never heard on a Franz Ferdinand track.
The band's new sound is far more cerebral than before. The electronic influence is of course very in vogue but they uniquely weave their synths with guitar licks to great, if not immediate, effect. They always said they wanted to make girls dance but it's on this album that the music sounds most suitable for the dancefloor - even of clubs not frequented by the indie fraternity.
'Lucid Dreams' is where this is most evident. An epic and intoxicating 7 minute assault on the senses that evolves into a techno style wig out. If they're bold enough, perhaps this is where Franz Ferdinand will eventually arrive musically.
So that leaves the concept to be untangled. It's a bit hit and miss but there are moments when Kapranos perfectly captures the enigmatic, sexual tension of a night out. The desire, the uncertainty, the excitement - the anticipation in the "Twilight Omens".
Lines such as, "flick you're cigarette and then kiss me/kiss me where your eye won't meet me" and "yes I love... I mean I'd love to get to know you" evoke that adolescent naivety and nightclub glamour that will inevitably evaporate come the morning after. Add to that Kapranos' knack for imagery, particularly in the line, "Eyes like marbles on a washing machine", from the delicate album closer 'Katherine Kiss Me', and it's a concept that you find yourself quite willing to be play along with.
This is by no means a classic album then and it's true the band do risk falling between the two stools of wanting to move forward and not alienating their existing fan base. However, there's more than enough to be praised in the meantime and if Franz Ferdinand do have the wherewithal to make that leap into the unknown, they could still remain one of the most interesting acts of modern times.
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