Fox Lake – Repose LP (Dipterid Records)

“Repose” is a debut full-length release by Fox Lake, an outstanding Canadian band based in Winnipeg. Released in 2022 via Dipterid Records, this comprehensive collection carries ten excellent songs that will satisfy anyone into tastefully written, composed, and performed underground music. Soundwise, Fox Lake explores several complementary music genres to illustrate such rich and luxurious sonic imagery. Perhaps math-rock comes to mind first, but don’t be surprised if you stumble upon some of the finest sonic ingredients borrowed from post-rock, post-hardcore, emo, indie, etc. These folks expertly merge all these elements, resulting in a rich and luxurious sound where every vocal, sonic, and rhythmic articulation reigns supreme. “Repose” sounds impressive from scratch to finish thanks to brilliant ideas and exceptional musicianship invested in it.

As soon as you press play, you’ll notice that these folks are not joking around with their sound. Each of these tracks arrives with a perfect structure staked with profoundly detailed segments and garnered with mindblowing orchestrations. The expertly arranged, flawlessly performed, tastefully distorted riffs and chord progressions harmoniously collide with catchy, hypnotic, memorable, ethereal leads, themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers. This interplay acts as an adequate backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. Also, it’s good to mention that although these instrumentations sound complex from scratch to finish, Fox Lake still sounds easy-listening. The outstanding vocal performance commands attention and guides the listeners through each section of every song, while skillfully balancing low, mid, and high notes. You’ll also hear how all these vocal harmonies emphasize everything the remainder of the band intended to achieve sonically while adding more detail to an already complex ambiance.

In the meantime, the equally intricate, vividly hearable, semi-distorted basslines roar beneath all those magnificent guitar layers, offering more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth. The bass guitar also acts as a binding element between mentioned orchestrations and drums. You’ll also notice how the exceptional drumming performance keeps everything in line while dictating the groove and pace with expertly arranged, dynamic, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics. Fox Lake continuously levitates between calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal moments and those ultimately progressive segments where all the instrumentations shine in the limelight. Their ability to seamlessly combine simplicity with complexity goes beyond comprehension so many times throughout the entire album.

Tracks like “In Fading,” “Habitation,” “Five Minutes,” “Metamorphosis,” “In Due Time,” and “Room For The Weekend” are undoubtedly standouts of this release, but you should pay attention to the entire album because these folks deliver some of the finest ideas and instrumentations you’ll hear on math-rock scene. Once again, Dipterid Records invested a lot of effort in delivering magnificent music to the table. “Repose” arrives in a hefty, high-quality, full-color cardboard sleeve, including an insert with all the info. You can choose between peach, real, and smoke vinyl variants, so head to Dipterid Records for more information about ordering.