Foals have a Saturday night headlining slot at July's Latitude festival following a bill-topping appearance on Glastonbury's Other Stage - and they seem set this year to cement their status as one of the UK's biggest bands. The Oxford-based band were voted Best British Group at the 2020 BRITs and they have been building on this success ever since. Their new album 'Life Is Yours' is another positive step ahead for the band. It is a bright and accessible pop record designed, say the band, to help banish post-lockdown blues. Foals frontman Yannis Philippakis explains the band wanted to deliver something really upbeat. “We started writing songs for the new album during lockdown and the lyrics reflected our desire to escape. By the time we were finishing the album in a Bath studio, the world was opening up again - and at this point the album became a joyful celebration for us. Gone were our times of getting a bit overwrought.....our new album is determinedly tight, life-affirming, punchy.” Foals were a five-piece band for a lot of their 17-year career but now they are a slimmed-down trio with Philippakis accompanied by guitarist Jimmy Smith and drummer Jack Bevan. The new line-up works well and Foals rush through eleven numbers in just forty-two minutes on the new record. The title track sets the tone with its swirling keyboards and jittery percussion reminiscent of Talking Heads in their 'Once In A Lifetime' era. 'Wake Me Up' is a little funkier, pitched more between Chic and Duran Duran whilst 'Under The Radar' features a 1980s synth-pop feel not unlike Depeche Mode or Soft Cell at their best. Philippakis joined Foals in 2005 while he was a student at Oxford and the band's early gigs in chaotic local club shows are recalled on 'Looking High' where he laments the disappearance of so many live venues to greedy property developers.......“Looking high, looking low, for where all our friends used to go”. But this is a rare moment of poignant reflection in an album that is overwhelmingly positive, happy and joyous. On 'The Sound' Philippakis savours the prospect of performing live again. This is something Foals excel at - and Glastonbury and Latitude are fortunate to be hosting the band. For those unable to be at these festivals, the band's new 'Life Is Yours' album is a very good consolation prize!