The post-punk scene continues to evolve, with numerous excellent bands and artists consistently delivering high-quality music. However, it feels like many of them overly explore their influences, lose themselves in experimentation, tirelessly reinvent the same old wheel, or mimic the sound shaped by so many greats decades ago. Thankfully, there are music outlets like The House Flies who continuously work on their sound by breaking the rules and shapeshifting the boundaries of post-punk music. Their sound is expanding with each new release, treating their fans with fresh, unique, innovative, exciting songs that even go beyond the mentioned music genre. “Sweet Foxhound” is the latest piece of work by this excellent Midwest band, a true showcase of their tremendous songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing abilities. Arriving after “Mannequin Deposit,” their critically acclaimed full-length debut album released last year, their new composition combines various approaches, different techniques, and many complementary styles, building the luxuriant ambiance that will appeal to those music enthusiasts who appreciate cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. Besides post-punk, The House Flies incorporate styles such as goth rock, art-rock, garage, alternative, and many more. They use all these additional sonic ingredients as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift their music to an entirely new level while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Their music shines with qualities that meet all the trends in contemporary music production, yet there’s a subtle touch of nostalgia that spices things up. Therefore, these experimentations with various approaches, different techniques, and complementary genres resulted in a mesmerizing track that will not only appeal to longtime post-punk fans but also to anyone looking for music performed straight from the heart.
From the onset, it becomes apparent that The House Flies poured heart and soul into their latest single. “Sweet Foxhound” brings all their signature moves, but now adorned with even sharper lyricism, ethereal soundscapes, and hypnotic beats. The song has a perfect structure, decorated with many profoundly detailed segments, brilliant ideas, and marvelous instrumentations, making “Sweet Foxhound” such a pleasant listening experience worth repeating over and over again. Each vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuver has its place and purpose here. You’ll hear how the sincere, confident, emotive, powerful vocal performance elevates the entire composition to new heights, commands attention, and leads you on an epic voyage through the expansive sonic universe. The calm, soothing, relaxing vocal harmonies seamlessly balance low, mid, and high notes with such precision and finesse, emphasizing everything the band intended to achieve with this track. Besides decorating all the segments and instrumentations, these vocal lines contribute more than necessary emotional depth and detail, making this track worth repeating over and over again. You’ll also hear how the vocals become more powerful during the choruses, bringing more power to those particular sections. In the meantime, the comprehensive collection of catchy, memorable, engaging themes, melodies, harmonies, and chord progressions shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. These interplays between thoughtfully arranged layers build an otherworldly soundscape that immediately wraps around your ears, grabs you by the collar, and transports you in a totally different realm. Also, it’s nearly mindblowing how all these layers articulate without overwhelming each other.
The rhyhtm section play a significant role here. Beneath all those lush guitar works, there are equally impressive, vividly hearable, warm-sounding, intricate basslines, rumbling and providing more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth to the song. Those low ends are rich, deep, dense, and heavy enough to offer even more power and detail without overwhelming the song’s core. You’ll also notice how the tastefully assembled, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated, moderate beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keep the remainder of the instrumentation in line while dictating groove and pace. Each hit of the snare, kick of the bass drum, accentuation of the hi-hat, and splash over the cymbals cuts the calm ambiance and brings more complexity to the already intricate structure. The House Flies thought about everything while writing, composing, arranging, recording, and producing this fine piece of sonic artistry. Their ability to elevate long-loved music genres such as post-punk goes beyond comprehension so many times throughout the entire track. You can hear all the experience, knowledge, creativity, talent, and skills invested in every vocal harmony, chord progression, bassline, and rhythmic pattern. “Sweet Foxhound” is one of the finest modern post-punk songs you’ll experience this year, and it will immediately become a staple on your playlist. Therefore, head to your favorite streaming platform and listen to it loud.
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