Foals have announced that, after 15 years, keyboardist Edwin Congreave will be leaving the band.
Sharing the news on their socials this week, Foals revealed that Congreave was quitting the band to focus on new interests and endeavours. More specifically, the musician is exploring postgraduate studies at Cambridge.
“We’re sad to say that we played our final show with Edwin Congreave as a member of Foals at All Points East Festival in London,” the band said.
“It was a helluva way to go out. After 15 years of sweet music making and surfing the globe together he’s decided to hang up his musical boots to pursue other avenues of life. We met at a cocktail bar one sultry night in Oxford as techno-obsessed drop outs and could never have guessed what we’d achieve and experience in the coming years.”
Off the back of their UK festival appearance, the British act have announced more UK tour dates for 2022 – these shows likely will see Foals debut new music they’ve been writing as a trio.
Congreave will be completing a postgraduate degree in economics at Cambridge, a pathway he said he hopes will lead him to join ‘technical efforts to mitigate the imminent climate catastrophe’.
“I’d like to thank Yannis, Jimmy, Jack and Walter for inviting me into their nascent, spindly-legged band over 15 years ago,” Congreave’s said.
“They gave a directionless dropout a desperately needed sense of purpose and belonging. I hope it’s not too melodramatic to say that Foals saved my life – really. I’ve been moved over the years by messages from fans saying that our music helped shine a path through their hard times too. That will stay with me my whole life.”
