Releasing a fourth album isn’t as easy as you’d think; sure you’ve made the relevant contacts, established a fan base and have a depth of experience under your belt – all of that came with the previous hat trick of records – but fourth albums are basically never any good.

Franz FerdinandFranz Ferdinand performing in Portugal

Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is an album that nearly didn’t exist. Frontman Alex Karpranos – who shot to prominence with the band after their hit, Take Me Out – was getting sick of the routine, and wanted Franz Ferdinand to be no more. "I wanted to split the band up, because in my head it felt like one of those jobs . . . the ones I had to jack in. I didn't like the routine and the obligations," Kapranos said. "And whether those obligations lay with my contemporaries, my peers, my record label, the fans, the audiences – or maybe myself . . . I felt . . . It was time to, erm, stop that."

But what a stroke of luck: they didn’t, and their ominous fourth album has received rave reviews from the critics. Thankfully, Metacritic get all the reviews and put them in a nice place. They even add up all the scores, and with 76/100, it’s safe to say they’ve recaptured some of the magic that endeared them to a loving indie scene early on.

Check out Franz Ferdinand's Love Illumination

“It's an album that more than makes up for Franz Ferdinand's extended absence,” say Q Magazine. “There's no great leap forward here but the spring in their step is unmistakeable,” say Mojo. This is Fake DIY say, “Their fourth album, Right Thoughts, Right Words, Right Action is a thumping beast full of deliberate, sudden movements and big melodies,” while MusicOMH reckon “Franz Ferdinand have done what they didn’t quite manage on Tonight, combining their more experimental leanings with their irresistible dance-punk sound to create right thoughts, right words, right action, right album.”

Nice work, boys!