Foxing's album, The Albatross, is out now on its Bandcamp page.

Foxing: Fine-Grained, Emotional Art Rock

Soundcheck | Dec 15, 2014

The music of Foxing swoons with emotion heft -- building from ornate instrumentation to cascading squelches of guitar noise, often in the course of one song. But at the center of Foxing's art rock sound is Conor Murphy's intricately worded lyrics and a voice that toggles between delicate falsetto to a throat-tearing howl. It's that quiet-then-loud-then-quiet formula that makes this St. Louis, Missouri band's 2013 record, The Albatross, such a winning collection.

At times through out The Albatross, Foxing embodies different identities: There's the operatic prog pop of Shearwater ("The Medic"); the all-but-the-kitchen-sink orchestral passages of Sufjan Stevens ("Bloodhound"); the sprawling pastoral shimmer of Explosions In The Sky ("Bit By a Dead Bee pt. I"). And in the album's biggest moments -- "Rory" or "Inuit" -- Murphy and Foxing even tease out early emo and '90s pop punk with cathartic anthemic choruses. Yet, remarkably, Foxing manages to make it all cohere with stirring melodies that revel in pain and joy.

Set List:

  • "The Medic"
  • "Bit By A Dead Bee Pt. 2"
  • "Rory"

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