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| Photo courtesy of the artist. |
Manitoba emo rockers Fox Lake have an LP out today on Old Press Records. The album is called Repose, but the sounds and lead-up to the album are anything but lethargic. The album represents the fruition of the band's journey from shout-your-lungs-out punks to mature, self-reflective, power-pop proponents with a cultivated style that is both rhythmically complex and persuasively hooky. Now that they are at a sufficiently advanced stage of this rigorous process of artistic evolution, and they are ready to share the fruits of their labor with the world.
Repose in many ways is the survivor of a scrapped album of which only one tracks survived to be recorded during a trying four-day recording session. It's shocking how clear and calm the performances on the record sound given the very real restrictions of their production. A lot of love clearly went into Repose but all the care in the world wouldn't amount to much if there wasn't something worth caring for to begin with. And in this case, the band had a hand full of solid gold.
Fox Lake are nimble pop songwriters and players whose vision shines brightest on tracks like the shifting, off-kilter glimmer of "Metamorphosis" and the hopeful, sun-drenched harmonics of "In Fading." No emo record would be complete without an acoustic guitar segment, an aesthetic requirement that the band pays special attention to on the quiet interludes "EK" and "For Bulma, Forever Ago." And for those who just need something to shout along to, there is the forceful, open-hearted bluster of "In Due Time."
Repose is a record that the band put everything they had into, and now, hopefully, they can catch some R&R while the rest of us bathe in its shimmery pop glory. To celebrate the release of their record, I caught up with the band and asked a couple of questions about how it all came together. Check out what they had to say below and then keep scrolling for a full track-by-track breakdown, courtesy of the band themselves. Big thanks to Zach, Tyson, Neil, and Shane for their insights into this fantastic record!
The following interview was conducted via email on April 23, 2022. It has been edited only slightly for the sake of clarity.
How did you come up with the name for the record (Repose)? Is there a story behind it?
Much like the photographs and layout, the album name was selected via a lengthy list of options that was continuously being updated and edited. We had hundreds of potential ideas: photographs, layout concepts, pictures of the band as well as a list of album name candidates. Things shifted and evolved until all aspects of the art meshed together.
Repose is a fitting name as the word communicates a sense of ease, restfulness and sureness. It's also a tip of the hat to some of our previous projects which had bilingual (French/English) song names.
Where did you record it and how did you select that location?
There are a handful of great studios in our hometown. We chose Private Ear for a variety of reasons. Their pedigree is quite impressive and fit our eye the best: Comeback Kid, Propaghandi, AM Overcast, Royal Canoe and many other bands spanning all styles. We knew they would be able to work with our more unorthodox style and tones.
We have always strived to capture the excitement of our live sound and sometimes struggled to do so working with other engineers. We knew that JP (owner/engineer/magic man) would be able to not only find the sounds we wanted, but his reputation as a producer who can pull performances out of bands, and add a bit of his own creative elements and ideas was something we wanted to take advantage of.
What was the easiest song to record?
I think that this is really player/instrument-specific, but other than the blast-beat section in "In Fading" which demanded strong takes from Tyson (drums, and yes, he always delivered) that may have been the most effortless song. I will say that we were well-rehearsed, and there was not a particularly easy or difficult song.
We recorded them in order of comfort and if memory serves the first handful of songs were "In Fading," "Habitation" and "Chameleon Strategy." It was a bit of a blur though!
Which one was the most grueling?
The most grueling part of the recording process was the timeframe. Partially self-imposed, and as a consequence of a condensed pandemic calendar, we only had 4 days total in the studio. We chose a (mostly) live approach, recording all songs together, over the course of a day and a half. Most vocals were done on day 3, and that left very little time for any overdubbing, exploration, etc... We weren't used to singing that much, so protecting our voices and being selective with what and when to sing was tough.
Vocally there were some songs that really pushed our abilities, and I would say that "Habitation" had the most creative and ambitious vocal lines. It forced Shane and Zach to step into the booth and do things we had not done with our voices before. Neil's role is that of a supporting vocalist (with some exceptions) and many of the harmonies were written and performed on the spot. It was a challenge. JP's guidance was essential in forming and delivering a lot of those lines.
"In Due Time" was the oldest song we had written for this project and ironically was the hardest to pin down feel wise. It is slightly out of left field compared to the general feel of the album and though it fits well, we had to shift gears (and tunings) to make it happen. We were a yell-y band before, and there are traces of that with this tune, which took a toll on our voices.
Zach also had a hell of a time remembering some of the structure for "Metamorphosis," but that's just me. The other guys seem fine with it. Let the record show that Neil has a "tough" bass part and he tunes his G string for that song live to make it easier haha.
What are your plans for promoting this record? Will people be able to see you on tour soon?
Promoting music has, in our experience, changed dramatically in the last decade. There has been an obvious shift in how people discover and consume music (duh).
With the pandemic, there were so many unknowns and we feel as though we were swimming in the dark. Everything about this release: rehearsals, studio time, art, physical production, and everything in between has been affected by the uncertainties and setbacks that we are all living. And those uncertainties have really challenged how live music is experienced, at least in our city.
With that said, we plan to continue our dual approach of the traditional live shows and small tours, while focusing some of our resources towards digital material. Live sets, music videos and the like. We like to think that we are a solid option for many of our touring friends and we are typically a bit selective with who and when we play, opting to support traveling bands as much as possible.
Notable favorites of ours are Taking Meds (Rochester) and Life in Vaccum (Toronto).
Fox Lake is definitely a live band first and foremost, but the realities of the world as we know it forces our hand a bit. That being said, we do enjoy providing digital art and it's an avenue we will continue to explore.
Repose is out now via Old Press Records. You can stream the entire album and read a track-by-track breakdown from the band below:
Track 1: "In Fading"
The obvious album opener and hypest song from start to finish, this song is super satisfying to play. We enjoy surprising each other when writing, and the first time Tyson half-jokingly played the blast beat in the bridge, we knew it had to stay. Endless gratitude to our producer JP Peters for the Brian Wilson-esque “Your Summer Dream” harmony in this song’s climax, which quickly became a highlight of the album.
Track 2: "Habitation"
"Habitation" was the last song we finished for this album, painstakingly written over a year of sporadic sessions wedged between waves of the pandemic. The rest of the band had never heard the vocal ideas until Shane stepped into the booth, and harmonies were written on the spot. The voices are airy and sparse compared to the interwoven and driving instrumentation, which is a balance that we've always wanted to strike. Lyrically, the song exemplifies the often cryptic but self-reflective concepts throughout the album - this time wrestling with an acceptance of innate deficiency.
Track 3: "Five Minutes"
With big open chords and chiming guitars, this song has always felt like a tone showcase for us. When we talk about indulgences in our band, one of the obvious ones is the simple satisfaction of driving our vintage Traynor heads until we get that perfect natural breakup.
Track 4: "EK" (interlude)
We always knew we would have some interludes on the album - we all like the idea of having palette cleansers after big or busy passages. They also allow us to include acoustic guitars, which is how many of these songs began.
Track 5: "Chameleon Strategy"
The Alexisonfire and .moneen. Influences are undeniable on this one, whether it’s in the sparse guitar duets of the intro and outro, or the layered vocals in the climax. These aren’t bands that we necessarily think of often when writing, but their influence on us all as young musicians is undeniable.
Track 6: "Metamorphosis"
"Metamorphosis" stands out as the most narrative song we've ever written, both lyrically and instrumentally. We realized after it was done that the song follows a classical narrative arc, with the locked-in grooves of the verses crescendoing to an extended climax and dénouement. We're definitely leaning into dreamier tones here, the lyrical concept of losing oneself complemented by nearly whispered falsetto, soaring and circular guitar patterns, and extended, improvised drum fills.
Track 7: "Formalities"
While we’re a mostly a collaborative band writing-wise, this is the only song on the album where someone other than Shane took a lead on vocal ideas, and it’s a refreshing shift. Though it wasn’t a reference point when we were writing, there are strong Circa Survive leanings here, this song is a welcome break from the mathier guitar work elsewhere on the album.
Track 8: "In Due Time"
The only song on the LP that survived when we scrapped an entire album worth of material. This one has been mostly untouched since it was first completed and features some of the high-energy, shouty sounds that we’ve mostly left on earlier EPs. For the guitar nerds out there, Zach uses a modified capo to get the tuning on this song, sadly breaking our “no capo” rule for the album.
Track 9: "A Room for the Weekend"
This song is distilled Fox Lake: playful and indulgent instrumentals layered with raw and confessional lyrics.
Track 10: "For Bulma, Forever Ago (interlude)" (see above #4 EK)
