Bookending an album with the strongest tracks, offering a gratifying welcome embrace and a glowing farewell kiss, serves as a sleight of hand, coaxing the brain into thinking everything in between was of an equal standard.
Foals' fourth LP opens with the thunderous, uncaged What Went Down (probably the best song the band has written) and ends with the epic A Knife in the Ocean. There's early promise.
Mountain At My Gates borrows some Arcade Fire fizzle and spark, while Birch Tree hits the sweet spot where indie rock and dance music collide.
A patchy mid-section finds the Oxford five-piece veer close to Coldplay blandness on Albatross and London Thunder while the jumpy afrobeat-tinged Night Swimmers is a retread of previous feats.
Holy Fire was a career highlight; What Went Down struggles to rekindle those sparks.
