The Runner

"The Runner" is the second single by British rock band Foals, off their sixth studio album, Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost – Part 2. The single premiered on 5 September 2019 via Annie Mac's BBC Radio 1 show, and a 9:29 version, remixed by Australia's RÜFÜS DU SOL, was released on 27 November 2019. Critical reception Lisa Wright, writing for DIY praised the track for its musical aesthetic, "Swaggering straight in with guitars that prowl" and notes "Though there's a cockiness to the verses, there's something more fallible, more grandiose that sweeps in as the chorus arrives." Comparing the track's cohesion to the band's previous single, "Black Bull", Wright continues saying "If the monstrous riffs of 'Black Bull', came good on the band's promise to deliver a heavier, dirtier follow up to its predecessor, then with 'The Runner' the message is well and truly cemented: Foals aren't fucking about." Mark Beaumont, writing for The Guardian describes the track as "A wasteland ruled over by a funky android Royal Blood." Beaumont continues with a peculiar comparison saying "Relentless orders to 'keep on running' suggest less Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, more Paula Radcliffe beyond lavatory, but it's Foals, it's massive."