Accessibility links
Franz Ferdinand Franz Ferdinand artist page: interviews, features and/or performances archived at NPR Music

Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos On The Importance Of Structure

Franz Ferdinand's latest album is titled Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action. Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Courtesy of the artist

Music Interviews

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos On The Importance Of Structure

"Too much jamming kills the band," the leader of the Glasgow quartet says. On the new Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, the band tries to lead with good concepts and let the music follow.

Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos On The Importance Of Structure

Listen · 7:44
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/214476665/215220935" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
First Listen: Franz Ferdinand, 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action'

Franz Ferdinand's new album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action, comes out August 27. Andy Knowles/Courtesy of the artist hide caption

toggle caption
Andy Knowles/Courtesy of the artist

First Listen

First Listen: Franz Ferdinand, 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action'

Almost 10 years after "Take Me Out" helped the band break through commercially, win a Mercury Prize and craft a zeitgeist-defining sound — and two years after a rumored breakup — the Glaswegian dance-rock outfit returns with its first new album since 2009.

Franz Ferdinand, 'Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action'

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/210175096/210195836" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Review

Song Of The Day

Franz Ferdinand: A Mod-Pop Tone-Setter

The Scottish band Franz Ferdinand broke big in 2004, but to whom much is given, much is expected. Fortunately, "Can't Stop Feeling" finds the gangly mod-pop quartet tinkering with its formulas, implementing innovative production and unique instrumentation while retaining its core sound.

'Can't Stop Feeling' by Franz Ferdinand

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/101870246/101839470" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Music News

Franz Ferdinand's Frontman on Touring and Eating

Fresh Air

Singer, guitarist, and author Alex Kapranos is the frontman for the Glasgow-based indie rock quartet Franz Ferdinand. The band, best known for its single "Take Me Out," has produced two hit CDs. Kapranos has a new book about eating on tour, called Sound Bites.

Franz Ferdinand's Frontman on Touring and Eating

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/6741329/6741332" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Review

Song Of The Day

Dirty and Bored: Serge Gainsbourg Revisited

Franz Ferdinand turns "Sorry Angel" — Serge Gainsbourg's tinny, mostly spoken-word meditation on regret — into a mostly sung dance-floor romp, complete with vintage cooing by Gainsbourg muse Jane Birkin.

'A Song for Sorry Angel' by Franz Ferdinand & Jane Birkin

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/5624452/5624551" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Music Interviews

Franz Ferdinand's Post-Punk Revolution

The quartet has a passion for crafting pop hooks matched with complex, intimate lyrics — a creative formula that extends to their style, attitude and even the name of the band, named for a minor royal whose assassination sparked global change.

Franz Ferdinand's Post-Punk Revolution

Listen
Transcript
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4971318/4971331" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

All Songs Considered

Franz Ferdinand, Wolf Parade, Nada Surf

Better dance music from Franz Ferdinand; Unreleased bonus tracks by Talking Heads; Canada's indie pop quartet Wolf Parade; Ancient China and Appalachia with Wu Man and more.

Franz Ferdinand, Wolf Parade, Nada Surf

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/15965224/15965227" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Review

Music Reviews

Music Review: 'Franz Ferdinand' from Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand is the name not only of the assassinated Archduke of Austria, considered the trigger for World War I; Franz Ferdinand is now a Scottish band that has made it big in Britain. Reviewer Mikel Jollett thinks the reason they've succeeded is that the group bridges the distance between headphones and dance floor.

Music Review: 'Franz Ferdinand' from Franz Ferdinand

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/1800351/1800352" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
Browse archive or search npr.org