The Key Presents: Foxing

Foxing | Photo by Jeremy Zimmerman | jeremy-zim.com

Foxing are a force of nature. Anyone who’s seen the St. Louis post-emo six-piece in the past year-and-a-half of relentless touring can attest to that fact. Frontman Conor Murphy brings a fearsome energy to the stage, roaring his unbelievably personal lyrics over an oceanic soundscape spooled out drop by drop, each twinkling guitar note and choir sample weaving together as fluidly and surely as tidal erosion.

The combination of blistering passion and ace talent hasn’t gone unnoticed, with the band being hand-selected to support emo titans Brand New, and later joining Philly friends Modern Baseball and mewithoutYou for tours as well, stealing shows and hearts all the while.

But Foxing is at its best with emotions running high, and this isn’t limited to a room full of screaming, sobbing fans—like the one they tore apart at Union Transfer early in December. Some of Foxing’s most visceral moments come not in the raging choruses of songs like “Rory” and “the Medic,” but in the layered introspection and lightly wafting lyrics from Murphy.

If anything, their 2015 release Dealer is an exercise in restraint, while 2013’s The Albatross makes no bones about where it stands sonically. “Three On a Match” is a lightweight that stings as painfully as it is able to float on the mild tones of Conor’s high notes. Closing an album is no easy task, but the song proves a fitting haymaker to the emotional ride that Dealer takes listeners on.

We met up with Foxing before they played Union Transfer. In an upstairs backroom, they played us an intimate version of “Three On a Match” in the round. This is The Key Presents: Foxing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1MwXGEwJ8GY