I love what happened 20 years ago... but want to live in the moment

FRANZ FERDINAND FRONTMAN ALEX KAPRANOS IS IN REFLECTIVE MOOD AS HE CHATS TO NAOMI CLARKE

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AT A time when anniversary tours which hark back to an act's glory days are rife, Franz Ferdinand frontman Alex Kapranos has his feet firmly planted in the present. The Scottish rockers released a best of album - Hits To The Head - in 2022 but resisted the lure of an anniversary tour last year to mark 20 years since the release of their 2004 Mercury-winning, self-titled debut which sold more than five million copies worldwide. Instead, singer-songwriter Alex has been focusing on creating The Human Fear - their sixth album and first since 2018.

Alex says he still loves playing their early hits like Take Me Out, No You Girls and Do You Want To but does not want that to be where the band's story ends.

"I love what happened 20 years ago and I feel very fortunate that we had such an amazing time back then, but I feel very much like a living artist, and I feel very much in the present now," he explains.

"There's often pressure that comes from promoters to do these 20-year anniversary tours and fair play to anybody who wants to do that sort of thing but, for me, it doesn't appeal at all. I want to be living in the moment now. I want to be making new songs that are just as good as those old ones and feel alive as an artist now."

Their new 10-track offering conjures the classic Franz Ferdinand sound of yesteryear with gritty guitar riffs and Alex's signature vocals but it feels refreshed.