Release Date: August 6, 2021 Genre: Indie Rock, Post Rock, Pop
Label: Grand Paradise / Hopeless Records
For over a year now, St. Louis, Missouri, three-piece rock band Foxing has been hard at work writing, reworking, and recording their fourth album. Foxing -made up of vocalist/guitarist/trumpeter Conor Murphy, drummer Jon Hellwig, and guitarist/vocalist Eric Hudson- will return after working on their fourth full-length album, Draw Down The Moon. The brand new album will release on August 6th, 2021, through their label Grand Paradise and Hopeless Records. Once again, Foxing has raised the stakes with their songwriting. The band has always stayed through their core indie rock/post-rock sound since their debut album, The Albatross (2013), but with each album that has come after, Dealer (2015) and Nearer My God (2018), Foxing has refused to be pigeonholed into the genres and drive their songwriting past it and experiment with various genres and incorporate them within their music in some form. With the help of the Manchester Orchestra's Andy Hull contributing to the album's songwriting, the band takes up an underlying theme on the new record in the subject of the entire universe. Additionally, Draw Down The Moon is self-produced by Eric Hudson and mixed by John Congleton.
The album's title comes from Margot Adler's ritual book, Draw Down the Moon. A book about rituals from across the board of Witches, Druids, Goddess-Worshippers, and other Pagans. The album also takes inspiration from magic and role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, but the band dug deeper on these than just fiction. As aforementioned, the ten-track album takes topics from all over the universe that includes age/ageing, financial ruin, sexuality, commitment, success, homes, luck, vulnerability, trust, and death. Something that together paints a much larger picture.
On Draw Down The Moon, Foxing stays true to themselves with a transverse collection of post-rock/indie rock tunes. The trio adds elements of pop into the fold to add a new layer, which is executed without much effort. Song highlights of "737," "Go Down Together," "Where The Lightning Strikes Twice," and "At Least We Found The Floor" illustrate the band's renewed charge in pushing their songwriting to new heights, that the band's longtime friend Andy Hull helped achieve.
Draw Down The Moon opens with the stylings of an acoustic guitar that's intertwined with atmospheric sounds. More so, the sounds help build around the album's overlying theme of the universe -and takes it to that place. The opening track, "737," takes a swing at the ever worldly topic of age and ageing. As the track builds, what appears to be an organ comes into the mix with some trumpet as well. While it eventually culminates with a full band explosion where Murphy screams out the song's lyrics in frustration. Ultimately, the track is quite a heavy opener. Following is the dancey, synthy track, "Go Down Together." This particular track tackles debt and is a drastic change from what "737" offered up. Track three, "Beacons," is a straight-up alternative rock track that touches on sexuality and features Murphy's emotive falsetto on full display. On the album's powerful title track, "Down With The Moon," Foxing writes about romantic commitment. Whereas the catchy post-rock number, "Where The Lightning Strikes Twice," lyrically touches on the topic of success.
On the seventh track, "At Least We Found The Floor," Foxing continues to tackle the themes of the universe. The three-piece offers up a subtle acoustic number that's about the subject of luck. Paired with the acoustic guitar and Murphy's emotive singing voice, the band's emotion and sincerity come right to the top. Vulnerability takes the stage lyrically on the alternative rock/post-rock blended number, "Cold Blooded," and trust on the poppy, rock blended penultimate track, "If I Believed In Love." While the final song on Draw Out The Moon tackles the largest topic yet of death. "Speak With The Dead" runs the course of a seven-minute-long massive number that's quite immersive. The track incorporates their core post-rock sound, which teeters the line with elements of progressive rock and some elements from pop. Additionally, "Speak With The Dead" also features the alternative hip-hop/indie rock band WHY?
You can presave and/or preorder Draw Down The Moon before its release later this week, buy tickets to their album release show, grab tickets to their live stream event, or join Foxing's Patreon here.
