Foxing

With roots in the St. Louis, Missouri scene of the early 2010s, Foxing blend introspective passion and sharp edges across Midwest emo, post-rock, and reflective indie rock. Core players who had previously explored math rock and related guitar-driven forms came together after the breakup of the post-rock outfit Hunter Gatherer, adding orchestral colors to their sound starting with the 2013 debut full-length The Albatross. Matt Bayles produced the follow-up Dealer in 2015, after which the band shifted toward synth-driven textures on Nearer My God in 2018 and enlisted Grammy-winning producer John Congleton for the stylistically wide-ranging Draw Down the Moon in 2021. Their self-titled fifth album arrived in 2024 on the Grand Paradise label, embracing jagged structures and pointedly caustic tones.

Frontman Conor Murphy assembled the group in 2011 once Hunter Gatherer dissolved; that earlier project had already linked him with bassist Josh Coll and drummer Jon Hellwig. An EP called Old Songs appeared in 2012. The Albatross surfaced the next year on Count Your Lucky Stars Records, where strings, saxophones, and brass expanded the guitar foundation. Soon after, the five-piece—completed by guitarists Eric Hudson and Ricky Sampson—moved to Triple Crown Records, which issued Dealer in October 2015.

Coll departed in 2017 to pursue filmmaking while Murphy issued a solo album under the name Smidley. Working again as a quartet with producer Chris Walla, the band recorded Nearer My God for Triple Crown. By the time sessions began for Draw Down the Moon—released in August 2021 on Hopeless Records, the label founded by Louis Posen—Foxing had become a trio following Sampson’s exit the previous September. Contributions from John Congleton and Manchester Orchestra’s Andy Hull shaped that effort.

A tenth-anniversary tribute titled The Albatross: Ten Years emerged in November 2023, collecting reinterpretations by Sweet Pill and Prince Daddy & the Hyena alongside two new Foxing versions. Their nearly hour-long self-titled studio album, issued in September 2024 on Grand Paradise, marked their most unyielding statement to date. Touring bassist Brett Torrence was brought into the official lineup around the same period.