The lead single and title track from Franz Ferdinand's fifth studio album, "Always Ascending" is the first new music to be heard from the band since the recruitment of guitarist Dino Bardot and keyboardist Julian Corrie. The pair joined the group shortly after the departure of Nick McCarthy.
The song was produced by Philippe Zdar, one-half of French synthpop/house duo Cassius who also frequently works with French band Phoenix. Zdar's influence can be seen in the track's synth-based instrumentation, which is a departure from Franz Ferdinand's more guitar-driven roots. "In terms of the sound, the song is quite representative of the whole record," Kapranos told NME. "This one sounds quite different from our previous records - it's a bit wider and less of a 'straight up guitar' album."
Frontman Alex Kapranos told ABC Radio that the album and its title track reflected the state of the band in 2018. "The course of the song ['Always Ascending'], the way it goes, you kind of set the scene with one world, and then make a transition to a completely different universe," he explained. "It feels you're taken from one place to another. I guess that's what we're doing with the band and the whole new album." "We've gone from a previous decade to a new decade, ascended from one to the other," Kapranos continued. "So it seems like a pretty good metaphor for what we wanted to do."
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