Jimmy Smith, guitarist of much loved British band Foals, has today announced he is working on a solo album, and were not joking here, it’s about a Russian astronaut who is lost in space. The devastation and brutal competition of the Space Race, set amongst a narrative of beauty and progress is said to be the inspiration for the album, with Smith quoted as saying “Imagine feeling something so horrible all whilst looking at something so beautiful.”

A guitarist in @Foals is working on a solo project inspired by a space race conspiracy theory. https://t.co/vtk9x5ZN8T

— Triple A Daily (@tripleadaily) March 21, 2019

Expanding on these view points in conversation with the NME Smith discussed his inspiration for the album saying, “I like the imagery of the Soviet space race, Something that really stuck with me is that during the space race in America, lots of monitoring stations picked up distress calls from Russian cosmonauts lost in space. They were just pleading in Russian, and that was the last anyone heard of them before they just disappeared out of the orbit. What must those people have felt like to not only be abandoned by your country, but the whole fucking planet?”

Smith is of course not the only contemporary artist to be inspired by the Space Race. In 2015 Public Service Broadcasting released “The Race For Space” featuring tracks titled “Sputnik” and “Gagarin”. The album was made up of audio clips and samples taken from the news reports and media broadcasts during the 1960s and was featured Rough Trade Records’ albums of the year 2015.

The news of Smith’s work comes as part of a massive year for Foals, their comeback single, Exits, was debuted to the world and met with huge critical acclaim, and their fifth album “Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost: Part 1″ was released, with part two expected for later this year. The band will also be undertaking a UK tour this summer (full dates below) as well as playing a selection of festivals across the country.

Foals UK Tour Dates:

23/05/19 – Leeds, O2 Academy
11/06 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (SOLD OUT)
12/06 – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse (SOLD OUT)
14/06 – Tunbridge Wells, Bedgebury Pinetum
15/06 – Birmingham, Digbeth Arena (SOLD OUT)
16/06 – Birmingham, Digbeth Arena
18/06 – Glasgow, SWG3 Yard (SOLD OUT)
20/06 – Thetford, Thetford Forest
21/06 – London, Alexandra Palace (SOLD OUT)
22/06 – London, Alexandra Palace (SOLD OUT)
26/06 – Bournemouth, International Centre
27/06 – Kingston, Pryz