Sharp Dressed Men

In 2004, Franz Ferdinand sung Take Me Out, which the world dutifully did, dancing along as the track charted globally. A year later they queried us: Do You Want To? And yes we did, we did want to. Now, they arrive with a statement: Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action.

The title of Franz Ferdinand's fourth album could very well be a summary of their career to now. The smashing success of their eponymous Mercury Prize-winning debut propelled the Glasgow four-piece to instant global acclaim, and over the following decade Franz Ferdinand have become synonymous with indie rock'n'roll in the UK: stylish, sharp-witted and constantly moving.

Since their barnstorming sets at Coachella in April this year, the Glasgow quartet have been putting the ribbon around their brand new long-player, ten tracks of hip shaking jams that remind you just why the guitar is the sexiest instrument of all. And as bass player Bob Hardy explains, it's a record ready to give.

“I think the actual recordings, they're quite dense, not in a bad sense, but there's a lot going on that you can get rewarded [with] for repeat listening,” says the 32-year-old. “I also think [the songs] function immediately as well. [One thing] we were all conscious of in the studio is that they should be instantly arresting, but then it needs to have a little more depth that hopefully demands repeat listens.

“Alex [Kapranos – vocalist/guitarist] has obviously been a producer in his own right. He's working on three albums at the moment [from bands including The Cribs and Citizens], so he's obviously very interested in production and sounds, as are the rest of the band,” he adds. “And I think that as we go further on in our recording career that becomes more a part of our process.”

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is a guitar record first and foremost – Franz Ferdinand still refusing to go all experimental on us – but for once the staggering riffs were a secondary consideration. And although Hardy doesn't directly admit it, their fresh songwriting approach can be seen as a reaction to their at-times sluggish 2009 LP, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand.

“On our third album a lot of the songs did come from a riff or a groove, but I don't think we were all completely satisfied with [those] songs, so this time around we worked backwards and we started everything with an idea,” he reveals. “Not a concept but an idea of what the song would be about, and then we'd work on lyrics and a tune, and then we'd learn to play it and arrange it as a band, then all the production stuff would come last.”

Working backwards? Surely this would result in a loss of momentum for most groups? Franz Ferdinand, however, thrived with the structuring shift. “I think it's a much better way for us to work,” the bassist informs. “It's how it was on the first album to a large extent, and the best of the next two albums I think worked in that way. It suits us as a band. And personally speaking, I listen to the lyrics and the melody first [in a song]; I need some content, decent lyrical content, something to engage with.”

To flesh out the foundation themes from which to build their latest opus, Hardy, Kapranos and their bandmates, guitarist Nick McCarthy and drummer Paul Thomson, would simply talk. Conversations about general things, about bigger pictures, about ideas that would work well on record. One person would bring something into whichever studio they were working in at the time – London, Glasgow, Stockholm, Oslo – and then Kapranos would expand on it, taking the initial ideas away for the afternoon before returning with something more substantial.

“Alex has this ability to take an idea and to condense it into lyrics; I don't have that, my melody writing's terrible,” Hardy shrugs. “He can assimilate ideas much better than I can, so on a lot of songs he'll come from a much more general theme and then we'll have a chat about that, then I'll come back the next week and there'll be a song written with those themes – it's quite good.”

Again, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action – it works on so many levels. This record has been an enjoyable one to make for Franz Ferdinand. They have afforded themselves another four-year break between full-lengths, and with hindsight now on hand can see the benefits that come from taking stock of your achievements. When they exploded out of the Scottish streets originally, this wasn't so much the case: “It was such a massive, quick success we had, it kind of took us all by surprise,” recalls Hardy. “And when you're riding that wave you don't really want to stop; you don't want to break it, y'know what I mean?”

Their debut was a monster hit, and one that Franz Ferdinand will be hard pressed to ever top. But rather than rushing to prove their place at the pinnacle, they currently hold a more considered outlook. However, it still seems suitable for the band to return with Harvest for some festival fun later this year, as according to Hardy it was here in Australia where the adventures of Franz Ferdinand first got rolling.

“2004 we went to play Splendour In The Grass. It was our first time in Australia, not any of us had been, and it was just insane!” Hardy excitedly remembers. “We were in this tent and we played Take Me Out and the whole crowd was jumping and undulating. I can remember that vividly. Being on the other side of the world, to have that reaction – somewhere you've never been before – was absolutely mental.”