After a two year hiatus, dogged with rumours of violence and potential full break-up, Foxygen have appeared back on the scene with Hang, and brought a 40 piece orchestra with them…
The return is anything but understated and brings together a truly massive range of influences and styles into the melting pot that is Jonathan Rado and Sam France’s new album. The lead single Follow The Leader gave us a taste of what was to come in terms of quality, but the similarities end there.
The duo are reunited after a spate of time apart, with time to breathe and in Rado’s case time to produce a solo album, which only seems to have given further status to his already extremely impressive multi-instrumental ability. The album is full of raw, uninhibited emotion, only some of which is theirs as the psych/indie-rock double act turn their attention to the year that passed us by.
With both Rado and France both possessing enviable musical ability not restricted to just the one instrument you’d be right to expect a variety in sound. But the 40 piece band accompanying them has given them both even more room to experiment within their repertoire. The lead single, Follow The Leader is undeniably jazzy, with controlled yet slinky drums and brass ensemble underlying France’s slightly growly, funky vocals whilst the feel of the song is lifted and made more lively by the presence of the strings that crescendo throughout the track and carry it through into the next track, Avalon.
Avalon is definitely the definition of Foxygen exploring within the space afforded them, it feels like ABBA stumbled into the Old West complete with honky-tonk piano, and somehow this is a positive, the whole song feels like a guilty pleasure, with the backing sing-a-long feel making it feel more showtune than rock track, it should fall flat, but it is undeniably catchy and loaded with talent, making the track a real surprise, even amongst hugely varied mix of styles within the mere 8 tracks of the album.
Trauma is loaded with soulful, gospel choir-esque backing vocals to France’s cries and rich baritone, where we also see On Lankershim testing the waters with a more folk-rock atmosphere to it. Tracks such as America and Rise Up give a not so subtle nod to the political thoughts behind the album. It feels like protest, but not in the march with placards and hold the picket line way; more of a raw, emotive, dance like nobody’s watching way. The album is shamelessly self-indulgent throughout, and where this would usually be a negative, or point of criticism it works for them here.
The themes they explore within this extremely well-produced album, whilst plainly overused, Love – Death – Hope – Sadness, don’t sit badly here, the entire message of this fairly political album (barring nonsense psychedelic lyrics involving flamingoes, rockets and black fire) seems to be one of raw emotion, and the duo communicate this well even if it is convoluted and filled with long instrumental refrains.
The production is very sleek to boot, the whole album runs the risk at points of feeling like too much, considering the sheer volume of instrument included in what is essentially an indie rock album. However it treads this line carefully with a very live feel, each recording feeling like it could have all happened within one room, as instruments are well layered without feeling too separate and the sometimes cacophonous mix reminds of this, alongside microphone feedback echoing across the track in some of France’s more emotive wails.
All in all, the album sits well. It is sure to be divisive considering the sheer blend of styles that have been crammed into one release, there is no rise and fall in the consistent quality of the album, possibly just the feeling of confusion with the giant emotive jumps sometimes made between songs. Why not drop into your local Richer Sounds demo room to hear this album for yourself?
Author: Steve, Southgate store
