Franz Ferdinand's recently released third CD, “Tonight: Franz Ferdinand,” finds the band doing something fairly rare for a group that has enjoyed considerable success.

They've dialed down the wiry guitars in favor of punched up synthesizers and bass.

It was a risky move to reshape the Franz Ferdinand sound, but frontman Alex Kapranos says the band has stayed true to its ideals.

“After that (second) record came out, I just felt there was so much of that sound around about us,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I kept on hearing things around about me where I was thinking, (expletive), this sound is becoming kind of ubiquitous. I know that toward the middle of 2006, I remember way back then thinking whatever we do next, it's got to sound different, mainly for our own sense of satisfaction.”

But after seeing its first two Grammy-nominated CDs, 2004's “Franz Ferdinand” (which sold 1 million copies) and 2005's “You Could Have It So Much Better” each produce top 10 singles (“Take Me Out,” “Do You Want To”), “Tonight” has yet to register strongly with audiences.

Kapranos doesn't sound all that disappointed, though.

“I felt with our first and second records, there was an element of hype that appeared around our band that wasn't invited by us, which we kind of felt ill at ease with,” he said. “And I feel that you really have to kind of earn the respect of your fans in some way and not rely upon hype.”

The band essentially hit the reset button on its career after “You Could Have It So Much Better.”

This meant taking the first real break from recording and touring, as band members Kapranos (vocals/guitar), guitarist Nick McCarthy, bassist Bob Hardy and drummer Paul Thomson each went his separate way for several months in 2007.

When the band reconvened, it took the necessary time to find a new groove musically.

“I know at the beginning there was a lot of experimenting with sounds, not necessarily just wanting to write songs,” Kapranos said. “We wanted to create this new sonic identity. So there was a certain amount of jamming and like playing with new ideas, and maybe taking the same song and trying to do it in 14 different ways (asking), ‘OK, when are we going to hit on something that's exciting?'”

The experimentation has carried over to the band's live shows. “We're experimenting a little bit with the sound because the new record has some sounds we haven't used before live, particularly the end of ‘Lucid Dreams,' which has the really intense kind of dark Moog section,” Kapranos said.

“It took us awhile to work out how to do that live, but now we've got it completely together. To me, that's one of the most exciting parts of the set. It goes somewhere completely different. The dynamic, you get a real sense of euphoria from that. It's definitely something new for us.”