Franz Ferdinand have shared their imaginative new single ‘Night Or Day’, where they celebrate “living it up”– check it out below.
Opening with a pounding drum beat, sharp piano riff and deep bass line in their signature Franz Ferdinand sound, ‘Night Or Day’ sees frontman Alex Kapranos sing: “Life is never going to be easy / But if you’re living it with me / We’rе going to live it up night or day,” explaining that though life is tough if they are together things will be okay.
The new single follows the previously released ‘Audacious’ which served as the lead single of their upcoming album ‘The Human Fear’. The record is set for release on January 10 2025 via Domino. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here.
Directed by Rianne White, the song’s accompanying black-and-white video sees the band highlight the space in which the album was recorded. “This song emulates the turbulent, transcendent immensity of feelings that live and breathe within four walls,” White shared in a press release.
“Born with Franz Ferdinand in their Scottish studio, where they recorded this beauty, ‘Night or Day’ was a powerful meeting of visual and sound, all caught in the eye of 16mm black and white film. These are the storms we dance in!”
Speaking about the song and video in a press release, Kapranos said: “Life may never be easy, but damn, we’ll make sure we live it up night or day. Night into day.
“We collaborated with the hugely talented Rianne White to capture the Drama-Noir of the environment where we recorded this and the rest of the LP. She has a sensitivity and energy which exploded into that space, giving a glimpse of the world where we made the music. Storm shake the room and boom… the dark heart of Scotland beats strong. Filmed entirely on location at AYR Studios.”
Produced by Mark Ralph (who previously worked with the Scottish Mercury Prize-winners on 2013’s ‘Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action’), ‘The Human Fear’ marks the band’s first studio album since 2018’s acclaimed and dance-driven ‘Always Ascending’.
A press release promises that the 11 tracks on the album will “all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.”
Speaking to NME about the LP, Kapranos shared: “I don’t think there’s a single song that you’ll hear on the album and won’t think, ‘Oh, is that Franz Ferdinand?’ At the same time, there will be thinking, ‘Oh, did they really do that?’ That’s not to say I start rapping or anything like that.”
He also explained what ‘The Human Fear’ is and said: “We all have fears in our lives, and those fears are kind of a clue to understanding who we are – how we respond to them, how we overcome them (if we overcome them, because sometimes we don’t). The greatest moments in your life usually involve overcoming some kind of fear. Sometimes it’s a paralysing fear, but when it’s overcome, my god, it’s the greatest buzz in the world!
“Say you’re asking your partner out for the first time; that’s terrifying. Or moving to a new town and not knowing anybody. On the album, I’m talking about different fears that I’ve seen in other people: fear of social isolation, fear of leaving an institution, fear of leaving or staying in a relationship. It wasn’t like a clinical analysis when writing the songs, I only realised that after.”
The band have also announced a short run of in-store shows around the album release which will then be followed by a UK and European headlining tour. Check out a full list of dates below and visit here for tickets.
Franz Ferdinand 2025 UK and European tour dates are:
JANUARY
9 – Pryzm (Banquet Records) – KINGSTON (early evening) (SOLD OUT)
9 – Pryzm (Banquet Records) – KINGSTON (late evening) (SOLD OUT)
10 – De La Warr (Music’s Not Dead) – BEXHILL
11 – Dome Grand Central (Jacaranda Records) – LIVERPOOL (SOLD OUT)
12 – Liquid Room (Assai Records) – EDINBURGH (SOLD OUT)
FEBRUARY
14 – Aula Magna – LISBON (SOLD OUT)
15 – Sala Pelicano – A CORUNA (SOLD OUT)
17 – La Riviera – MADRID (SOLD OUT)
18 – Razzmatazz – BARCELONA (SOLD OUT)
20 – Fabrique – MILAN (SOLD OUT)
21 – X-Tra – ZURICH
22 – Muffathalle – MUNICH (SOLD OUT)
24 – Huxleys Neue Welt – BERLIN (SOLD OUT)
25 – Progresja – WARSAW
27 – La Cigale – PARIS (SOLD OUT)
28 – Die Kantine – COLOGNE (SOLD OUT)
MARCH
1 – De Roma – ANTWERP (SOLD OUT)
3 – Paradiso – AMSTERDAM (SOLD OUT)
5 – O2 Shepherds Bush Empire – LONDON
7 – Barrowland – GLASGOW (SOLD OUT)
In other news, back in September Franz Ferdinand debuted six new songs from ‘The Human Fear’ at a show in Scotland.