This EP dropped in to
my inbox a while back, and I’ll admit I’ve been a bit slack getting
round to review it, and what with all the craziness that’s been going
on in the world lately that didn’t speed things up. Of course now the
world seems to have settle in to a state of pause for most people I
guess some sense of normality might be good for some people so its
about time I cranked the volume and gave this three track EP from
FoxSleep a good listen.
Foxsleep is a solo project and
describes himself as “alternative rock with Jazzy inclinations”
which on first listen is a pretty accurate description I’d say, of
course when he says Jazzy its not exactly bright shiny jazz chords,
which is what I think when someone says jazz – well that, brass
instruments and weird timings – this is odd minor chords, I guess
closer to a sort of Gypsy jazz influence. Anyway, opening track
“Trail of Destruction” comes crashing in with some of those
“Jazzy” chords in a nice attention grabbing way and then settles
quickly in to a n easy catchy melody for the verse where it
definitely sways more to a gentle alternative rock vibe, its got a
nice groove to it that goes along at a strutting sort of pace till it
hits the chorus, which has a really effective and catchy descending
melody, its pretty good so far this tune, its a little bit off kilter
and little bit odd sounding – that’ll be the jazzy influences –
however, its done in all the right ways to make it interesting
without going too far and putting people off, the middle eight of
this song adds a nice boost in energy to the song, it certainly takes
things up a notch as well before dropping out to a nice vocal /
guitar section, as any regular readers – if they exist- will know
I’m a big fan of well used dynamics and this is a good example, its a
great opening tune this. Good work
We’re on to the second
track “Elsewhere” which is a bit less upbeat than our opener, it
kicks off in a slightly weird timing for the intro which is good and
interesting, but it quickly settles in to a straighter groove mostly
pushed by the guitars which the vocals to sit over nicely. It almost
reminds me of Weezer a bit this song, it lifts nicely as the chorus
hits and there’s some good backing vocals that certainly make the
chorus sound bigger than the verse without it actually getting any
heavier, its a pretty simple tune this one but done well. Every part
is used effectively, the guitars are simple but nicely layered, the
drums again are simple but keep the feel and groove very effectively
and the vocals carry most of the dynamics in this one with one simple
vocal part in the verses and some nice layered backing vocals coming
in to make the chorus sound much bigger.
Lastly and by no
means least, the third and final track of this EP “Walter” is
probably the most unusual one, that’s not a bad thing though, this is
definitely the one with the more sort of Gypsy Jazz vibes to it, with
that sort of “omm pa pa” groove to most of the song – sorry
sometimes these things are hard to describe in layman’s terms – its
a nice contrast to the other two tracks in terms of feel but still
maintains a consistency of sound with the other tracks, the vocals
kind of weave their way around the groove till the chorus hits where
they are again joined by some nice backing vocals as they get bigger
and sort of swing around the groove a bit more, its well done I
approve another good tune this one. Its another simple tune layered
up nicely but with some interesting little twists in it.
This is a good EP from Foxsleep that I should have listened to sooner, as I said earlier the description of Alternative rock with a jazzy influence is pretty accurate, just think of it as more mellow alternative rock than big heavy guitars. That’s not to say it doesn’t get big at times, just not heavy. Go check out FoxSleep now
Listen to FoxSleep ep#03 online:
Find FoxSleep online:
Twitter
soundcloud
FoxSleep.co.uk