bees made hives in the mouth of the lion / i made my home in the house of a liar
I have been very late with this one. I got an email a couple of months ago that reminded me Foxing were releasing their debut album via Count Your Lucky Stars. I got so caught up in work and simply forgot. Then, a couple of weeks later, it was there. I stumbled across it one day while treasure hunting for some news from my favorite labels. I pressed the play button and that was it. There are albums that need some time to sink in. And The Albatross is not making it easy at first glance. I felt the whole album starts off quiet, maybe to quiet for the compression used ears we all have come to develop over the last decades. It doesn’t really erupt, there is not much happening. The album just gently floats along, digs into your ear. The songs tingle about your mind. But with every minute they let loose of some dust, some spice or some poisonous substance that captivates you. Slowly, but surely you are sucked in. And the more tries you give it, the less likely you are to let go again.
and then you faked a smile and whispered to me, „Je te fais confiance, so don’t go home tired and alone“
If you wanted to pin me down on one defining moment of the album, it has to be the eruption halfway through ‚Rory‘. What the heck? The dripping piano notes at the beginning. The saddened story of goodbye and a love not returned is the intense highlight of the album. „I swear I’m a good man, so why don’t you love me back?“ Conor Murphy bemoans and you feel his pain and desperation in every of his words. When the song erupts and he continuously screams „why don’t you love me back“ with a slightly distorted guitar in the background, you can hear the watery eyes and shaking hands he described a few seconds earlier. It is one of those moments that can define a really great band. It’s one of those moments that make you hope for a great future for the band. It’s that one moment that separates the wheat from the chaff.
Over all this has to go down, as a brilliant emo record. It came, gave and conquered my ears, my heart and my mind. Even though the production might seem a little thin and quiet at first, once you’ve listened to the whole album a few times, you realize it was a conscious decision. And it totally paied off! The album is out now via Count Your Lucky Stars (again, a wonderful release from these guys!). You can buy it here!
