video review: 'all i need' by foxes

Yeah, I know Billboard BREAKDOWN is late. Turns out that file corruption makes editing an absolute bitch, especially when you only discover it 2/3 of the way through. Working to resolve it for tomorrow, but until then... well, I have no idea what I'll cover next, so stay tuned!

album review: 'all i need' by foxes

So, do you ever have those records where you hear them, you like them a fair bit, you might have even done a review of them... but when you really think back about them, you don't remember them all that much?

Well, back in 2014 I covered Foxes' debut album Glorious, and while I definitely remember liking it for its bombast and balance of quirky indie pop with EDM bombast and for Foxes' excellent and expressive vocals, it wasn't really an album that had a lot of staying power with me. There were a few songs I liked and occasionally revisited, but in the ever expanding list of indie-leaning pop artists, Foxes didn't really stand out for me as much as I'd like - good with real glimmers of promise but nothing hugely distinctive. I think a lot of it was the songwriting - it was arguably the biggest weakness on Glorious, feeling a little amateurish and broadly sketched to really click for me - but it was also that any push behind her solo work kind of evaporated, and she wasn't getting the same feature work as she did before. And I do think that's a shame - kind of like Carly Rae Jepsen she's got a knack for infectious pop music, only where Carly Rae looks backwards to retro-80s synthpop, Foxes was aiming for something a little more modern.

Now one thing that I remembered in the aftermath of that review is that I was told much the album was intended as more abstract, not quite as focused on the bad relationships the lyrics seemed to indicate - and honestly, I'm willing to concede the point... if only because Foxes has gone on the record by saying that this new album All I Need was inspired by them, reportedly stripping things back to a more emotional core. On the one hand, going smaller and more intimate might not be a bad change of pace if you're looking to stand out, but I wasn't sure Foxes had the emotive subtlety in her delivery or writing to really pull that off. But hey, I've been wrong plenty of times before - and in this case I definitely wanted to be wrong - so how did All I Need turn out?

video review: 'glorious' by foxes

Well, I enjoyed this. Can't say that it's a great album or that earns its bombast, but it's still fun.

Next up, Epica. Stay tuned!

album review: 'glorious' by foxes

Now when I made my year-end list for the Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2013, I always make a point of taking a look at what other critics tend to hold up as their favourites in this category. And while there were certain songs that crossed multiple lists including mine, there was one that I couldn't in good faith put on my list: 'Clarity' by Zedd. Many critics considered it their favourite mainstream EDM song to chart, and I definitely understand why. It had a solid crescendo, a great backing chorus, and lyrics that managed to fit the broad scope of the song. And yet, I was never a big fan of the track in comparison with songs like 'Wake Me Up!' or 'Don't You Worry Child' - I found the beat a little underweight, the synthesizer line a little overstuffed, and the melody not all that impressive.

However, there was one person in that song who did stand out for many people, and that was Foxes, a British pop singer/songwriter whose soulful delivery and careful balance between ethereal distance and raw vulnerability really anchored the song. Now I was more familiar with her from 'Just One Yesterday', a song off of Fall Out Boy's gloriously messy album Save Rock and Roll, and if it wasn't for a few sloppy rhymes in the verses, it would have made one of my other year-end lists simply on atmospheric power and drama alone. And thus, I was interested to see where Foxes would take her debut album Glorious, because to be fair, I didn't have much of a grasp on her musical identity outside of her featuring credits. What was this new album going to deliver?