Watch Franz Ferdinand play ‘Bar Lonely’ on TV for the first time

Franz Ferdinand have given new song ‘Bar Lonely’ its television debut on CBS Saturday Sessions – check out the footage below.

• READ MORE: Franz Ferdinand return with ‘Audacious’ and tell us about new album ‘The Human Fear’

The Scottish indie band are preparing to release their sixth studio album ‘The Human Fear’ next week (January 10) via Domino, and have so far shared the singles ‘Night Or Day’ and ‘Audacious’. You can pre-order/pre-save the album here.

Ahead of its release, the group have appeared on CBS Saturday Sessions, where they played both singles, as well as ‘Bar Lonely’, live in studio. The latter was getting its first public performance, aside from its appearance in the band’s setlists in late 2024. Watch the three songs here:

Produced by Mark Ralph (who previously worked with the Scottish Mercury Prize-winners on 2013’s ‘Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action’), ‘The Human Fear’ marks the band’s first studio album since 2018’s acclaimed and dance-driven ‘Always Ascending’.

A press release promises that the 11 tracks on the album will “all allude to some deep-set human fears and how overcoming and accepting these fears drives and defines our lives.”

Speaking to NME about the LP, frontman Alex Kapranos shared: “I don’t think there’s a single song that you’ll hear on the album and won’t think, ‘Oh, is that Franz Ferdinand?’ At the same time, there will be thinking, ‘Oh, did they really do that?’ That’s not to say I start rapping or anything like that.”

He also explained what he believes ‘The Human Fear’ represents: “We all have fears in our lives, and those fears are kind of a clue to understanding who we are – how we respond to them, how we overcome them (if we overcome them, because sometimes we don’t). The greatest moments in your life usually involve overcoming some kind of fear. Sometimes it’s a paralysing fear, but when it’s overcome, my god, it’s the greatest buzz in the world!

“Say you’re asking your partner out for the first time; that’s terrifying. Or moving to a new town and not knowing anybody. On the album, I’m talking about different fears that I’ve seen in other people: fear of social isolation, fear of leaving an institution, fear of leaving or staying in a relationship. It wasn’t like a clinical analysis when writing the songs, I only realised that after.”

The band also are about to kick off a short run of in-store shows on January 9, which will then be followed by a UK and European headlining tour. Check out a full list of dates here and visit here for tickets.