Delving inside Yannis Philippakis’s mind has never felt particularly pleasant. The Foals frontman, with his press-photo scowl and reputation for lancing sharp words at other musicians, has poured the anguish of insecurity and self-loathing into the confessional second album Total Life Forever and its 2013 follow-up, Holy Fire. On this latest effort, the band complete their transformation from more rugged Alt-J, all twitchy math-rock and clattering percussion – still found on Albatross – to meaty stadium rock act. The results will please dedicated fans, but may lack the melodic ingenuity to pull in others. What Went Down trades in drama, sometimes sounding too eager to melt your face off with shrieking synths or stomp you into the ground with the booming drums of Mountain at My Gates. Mostly, the Oxford five-piece sound passionate, channelling synthpop exuberance on Night Swimmers and plucking through Twin Shadowesque guitar lines on Birch Tree. It’s bulked-up indie, served with a hypermasculine snarl. On-brand for Philippakis, perhaps.
