There are few casual Foxing fans. If you’re in, you’re all the way in. For over a decade, no two Foxing records sound alike, from the chamber emo of their debut, The Albatross, to reflective Dealer to the endlessly inventive, towering Nearer My God to Passion Pit-leaning pop of Draw Down the Moon. The band’s inventiveness is the reward, and all of it hinges on the alchemy of the three consistent members–drummer Jon Hellwig, vocalist Conor Murphy, and guitarist/producer Eric Hudson. They don’t do small stakes. They swing for the fences, and most often, it is positively thrilling, bending a wealth of influences into something stirring and uniquely powerful.
Arriving after spending last fall on a celebration of the tenth anniversary of The Albatross, Foxing feels like a reckoning at times. It’s easy to imagine how the grind of playing the same record from ten years ago could be a trigger for deep thinking, and Murphy has admitted as much recently. Ten years out from a debut album that is still many fans’ favorite might bring about some more profound questions, not to mention possibly feeling stuck in the past for months at a time. Sonically, the record feels like a reaction to playing that cathartic and pretty record night after night. Foxing feels like those dogs from The Albatross album cover went off in three directions. Fortunately, Foxing’s songs are strong enough to bear the weight of all three gracefully.
In a recent interview, Foxing mentioned how difficult it was to make Foxing and how fully committed they are to keeping them going. Listening to it, it is easy to believe. Foxing is a passionate, thrilling record filled with unexpected twists and turns, even for a band known for subverting all expectations.
Their epic Nearer My God from 2018 is a much closer relative to Foxing than their previous, Draw Down the Moon, which leaned into artful dance pop sounds but retained some of the prickliness in the lyrics that keeps their flock faithful. Foxing is self-released and self-produced. No one outside the group’s inner circle was involved in making it. This is Foxing unfiltered, aiming to please themselves and their faithful first and foremost.
In doing so, they have pulled off something fascinating. This record stares down any whiff of aiming for growing their audience, leaning even harder into the uniqueness of their sound, and even pushing it to further extremes. Some songs are brief, a little more than an interlude, and just enough to come up for air. Others pummel relentlessly, and others stretch out and explode the atmospherics before rolling back again, such as “Greyhound”. The opener, “Secret History”, has a build-up to the catharsis that is characteristic of the band’s sound but bigger and louder.
The second track, “Hell 99”, is a furious, thrilling blast of screaming and aggression that looks great on them. As soon as Hudson screams about Carson Daly and Limp Bizkit on New Year’s Eve, Foxing blast off, and Murphy takes over. This wild pitch indicates the shift on Foxing–loud, sludgy guitars, screams, and a reckoning with the past and where to go from here.
Sometimes, these elements are blended into songs that recapture some of the prettier sounds of earlier records. “Hall of Frozen Heads” builds to a poppy crescendo before it winds down with quiet synths, and closer “Cry Baby” is a piano-driven ballad. “Gratitude” features soaring vocals from Murphy and a transcendent chorus driven by synthesizers. In true Foxing fashion, Eric Hudson said in a recent interview that mixing it nearly ruined his life (and was only half-joking). “Barking” also has a big, arena-size chorus in an anthem about a dog who passed.
Foxing have never been afraid of ambition, giant swings, or lyrics dealing with our experiences’ darker corners. Regardless of the sonics, it has made them compelling and worth taking the ride. Murphy claimed to want it all on the title track of “Nearer My God”, and they created a masterpiece. Six years after that declaration, Foxing have delivered the spiritual sequel nearly its equal and show they are at their best following their muse. While having it all might not have happened for Foxing (yet), what they do have is pretty damned impressive.