This second release from the Regina, Saskatchewan-based outfit is not particularly happy, yet it brings such joy!
Those familiar with frontman Andy Shauf’s solo work would recognize some of the defining sounds of 2: misty Sixties/Seventies folk sound, voluminous and warm bass, and cautiously tranquil drums. But Foxwarren don’t let you get too comfortable with the familiar.
2 is an album that’s like a random mix of several dreams that you dream while falling asleep in front of your TV while it’s on a retro movie channel. Foxwarren use soundbites from vintage movies with the same zeal as a rap act using samples. These sound-snippets are as integral to the music as the music itself is to the album.
There is a real tastefulness with which Foxwarren incorporate this quirk. Sure, it sounds like an easy gag to elicit some laughs when “Listen2me” kicks off with a sound clip of a stentorian Fifties voice commanding “listen to me!” but it is also such a perfectly cheeky opening for this fantastic Seventies rock-inspired number that actually sounds like it was recorded decades ago.
The movie snippets certainly elevate Shauf and crew’s “old soul” idiosyncratic musings. But 2 wows the listener in so many more wonderful ways. Foxwarren have poured their creative hearts and minds into the many intricacies of the album: cheeky flute accents on “Deadhead,” “Dance” transitioning to old newsreel music, mysterious and lush intro music for the totally austere and coarse “Again&” that’s almost as long as the actual song, Shauf’s slightly sarcastic singing on the sweepingly romantic “Dance,” and on and on…
2 is an onion with infinite layers that are so pleasurable to peel! It has aspects of ambient music (“Say It”), old school progressive rock (“Serious”), and heck, even disco (“Wings”) without an ounce of pretension and with a no-nonsense Prairie genuineness.
Shauf is a bit of an indie celebrity, especially when it comes to his solo work. But one doesn’t need to be aware of or even care about Shauf (and for that matter, Foxwarren) to enter into the wacky world of 2 and appreciate it. If anything, the brilliance of 2 will most likely open the door for folks to explore Shauf and Foxwarren’s previous works.