Canadian quintet Foxwarren is comprised of Andy Shauf, Avery and Darryl Kissick, Dallas Bryson, and Colin Nealis. “Listen2me” is the group’s first single in almost 8 years, and it comes ahead of their sophomore album, titled 2. The production method for 2 was a tedious one, and a bit out-of-the-ordinary. To create the songs, the members of Foxwarren were each tasked with creating their own individual sound bites, melodies, and other ideas for the album. In pandemic-era fashion, they then each sent their ideas digitally to Andy Shauf, who used a sampler to stitch the ideas together into full songs. This method gives the tracks a looseness to them, and an apparent whimsicality. The product is a sound that comes off as good-natured fun and low stakes, avoiding all signs of pretentiousness.
Andy Shauf and his bandmates slide in and out of the track with playful touches and tempo changes. The song isn’t meant to be anything more than a good time, and that’s what makes it great. Even the lyrics are a bit cheeky: “It’s almost like you never listen to me. When I’m speaking, you should listen to me.” The lyrics comes from the band’s submitted sound bites. Someone thought it would be fun to include a recording of a couple’s quarrel, which is heard at the beginning of the track and throughout the record.
The music video, by Winston Hacking, is a psychedelic layering of vintage images and other colorful textured cut-outs, collaged together to create an atmosphere of endless depth.
“Listen2me” is released ahead of Foxwarren‘s upcoming album 2, out May 30th on ANTI-. Pre-order available here.
Leave a Reply