Foals have shared a new animated video for ‘Like Lightning’ – watch it below.
In the clip, the band rally against climate change and paint a picture of a dystopian future.
The video for ‘Like Lightning’ has premiered on the website for Music Declares Emergency, the organisation set up by members of the music world to tackle climate change within the industry. Watch the new video below.
Foals have been very open about their passion for campaigning against climate change. At the Mercury Prize ceremony in September, they held up the Music Declares Emergency banner, which reads: “No music on a dead planet.”
Talking to NME about the gesture in a recent Big Read interview, singer Yannis Philippakis said: “Fay Milton (of Savages) is an old friend and great drummer. I was talking to her about Extinction Rebellion then we signed up to Music Declares Emergency.
“We’d been carbon offsetting before that and we’d been aware of environmental problems. It’s definitely disturbed me for a while, that’s why a lot of the lyrics on these two records pertain to that.”
He continued: “On the day of the Mercury Prize, we thought it would be good to bring exposure to Music Declares and just to get that sentiment across. It’s easy to think, ‘Oh, everyone knows what’s going on with the environment and everyone’s making changes’, but it’s one of those echo chamber things where you forget that actually lots of people either don’t care, don’t believe it or don’t act upon it.”
NME recently spoke to Fay Milton about the organisation and what the music industry can do to combat climate change.
“There’s such a short period of time to make the changes we need to make, and to make people wake up and realise that there isn’t time for everyone to change everything they do,” she said.
“To use Greta Thunberg’s analogy, the house is on fire, and there isn’t time for whoever started the fire with their cigarette to quit smoking before saying the house is on fire – it’s on fire now, and we need to fix this. Let’s change our lifestyles, let’s fly less, let’s use less plastic – but ultimately what’s needed is a governmental response.”
Foals also released a new live film called Rip Up The Road. In an NME review of the film, James McMahon said: “Rip Up The Road is a film where we get the opportunity to understand Foals in a way we’ve never done before.
“Simultaneously it gives the band a canvas to do the same about themselves. It is a film that asks why we love music and why music is made and shows us the men behind the melodies.”