Now one of the UK’s biggest bands, the trio talk about the impact of losing two founder members, fighting pandemic gloom with a euphoric seventh album, and why the climate crisis won’t stop them touring
Shortly before Christmas, when Foals were discussing potential places to shoot a new video, Ukraine topped the list. Frontman Yannis Philippakis had gone travelling there alone when he was 18 and still has a “kind of map of what it was like then permanently in my head”. In more recent years, when Foals had played some shows there, Kyiv had been just as he remembered it: a beautiful, peace-loving city that loved a party. The band were keen to work with Tanu Muiño, an acclaimed Ukranian-Cuban director who has worked with Lil Nas X, Cardi B, the Weeknd and Harry Styles – she turned out to be a Foals fan, and so an old industrial courtyard workspace was scouted for the shoot. At that point, Russian tanks had just started gathering on the border but, as Philippakis remembers, “the idea of it turning into a full-scale war seemed pretty remote”.
They shot the joyously choreographed video for 2am in January, after which they watched some ice skating, visited bars, hung out with the crew and talked politics. A perfect day ended with hugs and group photos. “The optimism that day was captured in the video,” says the singer, wistfully. “It’s strange to think how quickly that’s been brutalised.”
