Welcome back to Question of the Week, your one-stop shop to figure out what I'm thinking about when I'm staring at nothing in particular and then say "I zoned out, sorry" when you ask me what I'm doing. While I must admit, the subject matter of this has leaned heavily into music, I'm seeing that sports will start to take over pretty soon once the NFL season starts up, so if you're sick of seeing me write about bands you've never heard of, don't worry, there's a light coming up to get you out of the tunnel. Or, you could, I don't know, open your mind and try to listen to something different for once? Just spitballing here.
If you're going to listen to any band in the emo/alternative world right now, my first pick is probably Foxing. The band just put out their fourth full-length Draw Down the Moon, and much like each release they've had before it, the album has expanded on the band's sound and grandiose vision for their art. They've already become a band that have proven that they can take a sharp turn at any moment in their song, and this time, that ambition has been fully applied to how they presented their music, as well as how they recorded it. As I listened through Draw Down the Moon for the first time in preparation for the band's livestream last Friday night, the question popped into my head: Did Foxing have the best album rollout of the year?
Quickly, and without hesitation, I knew that the answer was yes. Let's break down why.
The Hype Any album is helped by the hype that the band can build around it, and Foxing started on the level that matters most: their closest fans. There were hints and clips released to their Patreon, which was doubly beneficial because it gave the diehards something special to experience before anyone else, and showed anyone who was holding off on joining the band's Patreon that they were missing out on something important by not being there.
Next, the band started releasing things to the masses, and did so in a really cool way. By going to the link drawdownthemoon.com, fans and curious onlookers alike were asked to participate in "Rituals" that helped unlock the content the band had prepared for the album that bears the same name as the website. These rituals weren't necessary for the enjoyment of what the band was releasing, but nonetheless served as a fun and unique experience that I'm not sure another band in this scene has even attempted recently.
Once preorders were announced, there was an ever bigger surprise waiting: Draw Down the Moon was being given its own tabletop game. We've seen bands like La Dispute do this as well, but rather than having that potentially take away from the originality of the idea, I'd rather say that it shows that Foxing are in elite company when it comes to the effort and attention they put into their releases. When Foxing are creating their art, it appears as if they leave nothing out of the realm of possibility. Foxing built great hype around this album in a perfect way: people got to decide how involved they wanted to be, and in the end, we all won.
The Singles I would love to be in the meetings where the singles/pre-release songs are chosen for any album, but this one in particular seems like it was a really fun experience. There must have been a major throw-up-you-hands-and-say-"fuck it" vibe when it was decided that Speak With The Dead, the album closer that clocks in at one second short of seven minutes, as the first song released. It's a slow build, but once the outro hits, and vocalist Conor Murphy is screaming "There you are" over and over, and drummer John Hellwig is frantically smashing his kit, and guitarist Eric Hudson is channeling a psychedelic solo, the song really cements itself as one of the band's best.
Up next was "Go Down Together," a song with a sound that Foxing fans are much more used to, in that it's an emotional knot in your stomach about devotion in the face of pessimism. It's also much more fitting for a single with it's 3:16 runtime, and ensures fans that they're not going to know what to expect from the album. Up next was "Where the Lighting Strikes Twice," which I would have thought was a track straight off of The Joshua Tree, which is a compliment for those scoring at home. It's the single after "Lightning" that really clued me in that this song was going to be special, though. It's a song called "If I Believed in Love," an aching song that finds Murphy at odds with the concept of love, and the emotions inevitably run high in this one, thanks to its chaotic chorus. Finally, we got the title track, a perfect melding of every other single we'd heard already that, upon listening, will give you every explanation necessary as to why this was chosen as the track that the album's title would be based off of. Five singles seems like a lot, but when all of them are at such a high quality, it's tough to fault Foxing for sharing an album that was such an obvious accomplishment.
The Music Videos The band went 3-for-5 in creating music videos for the aforementioned singles, and naturally, each of them is as unique as they are well-executed. "Speak with the Dead" features Murphy in what looks like a LARP outfit, scaling the shores of a rocky beach with sword and can of gasoline in hand. It's a beautifully shot video that blends the fantasy and reality aspects in really interesting ways, before ending with Murphy... mowing a field on a tractor? Sure, why not.
Next was "Go Down Together," an animated adventure for the character Murphy was playing in the "Speak with the Dead" video. While "Speak" was a video that starts with fantastical imagery and ends in a more grounded scene, "Go Down Together" takes the opposite path, starting with Murphy's character performing more yardwork before assembling a boat and ending up in space. Whatever, I'm already on board, let's keep this thing going.
Finally, we get to the titular song "Draw Down the Moon" and its video, which--a surprise!-- doesn't feature Murphy in the lead role. This time, it's Emmy and Grammy winner Andre De Shields, adorned in the outfit Murphy wears in the first two videos playing a menacing and unsettling ruler of sorts who becomes entranced by a performer before absolutely losing his mind in his trailer. Meanwhile, the band are playing behind De Shields, making disturbing-yet-hilarious stoic faces the entire time as De Shields's character descends further into his madness. I'm dying to see more of what the band has planned for videos for this album.
The Music
It's nice to have so many good things come out leading up to the album, of course, but let's be honest: it means nothing if the album isn't any good. Luckily, by now, you can probably guess that the rest of the songs yet to be released match up with and/or exceed the quality of what we heard before the album was released. It's an album that flows exceptionally well, and has enough moments for Foxing to showcase all their talents without any distracting shifts. Each song could exist in its own universe, but the album as a whole connects perfectly. That's something so few albums over the last two years have been able to do.
The Live Stream As if releasing what may end up being the best album of the year wasn't enough, Foxing had one more trick up their sleeve to celebrate Draw Down the Moon being unleashed to the world. Shot in the band's beloved hometown of St. Louis, Practically Live in St. Louis showed a cinematic performance of Draw Down the Moon from the beautiful Grandel Theater. The performance was shot in two locations in the venue, mostly from the venue's stage with the full lighting, smoke, and everything else you can expect when the band supports Manchester Orchestra on tour this fall, and a large, empty room (could be a green room, but I'm not really sure) that's almost overflowing with natural light.
The band goes through a couple of different wardrobe changes as their location changes with it, and I thought the intermission between the a-side and b-side of the record was a really fun addition, as the band played behind the scenes footage of setting up the "Draw Down the Moon" music video, and the very set that we were watching as well. It almost feels unfair to call this stream the cherry on top of the Draw Down the Moon rollout, this feels more like finding out the ice cream dealer (employee? whatever) gave you an extra scoop because he liked your shirt. Foxing and ice cream will now forever be connected in my big dumb brain, and I'm perfectly okay with that.
Overall, I can't imagine what Foxing could have done to make the rollout of Draw Down the Moon any better, besides playing a set in my apartment just for me and my friends (if anyone in the band reads this, my DMs are open, let's make this happen). It just goes to show that when music is made by truly talented and dedicated artists, with the creative freedom to fully realize their vision, you can make something really, really special. And like I said, it helps that the music is amazing, too.
Foxing's phenomenal new album Draw Down the Moon is available now via Hopeless Records/Grand Paradise. You can order the album, purchase merch centered around the release, and take a look at the band's upcoming tour dates here.
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