Fox Food Records are starting to get a reputation for putting out great little cassette releases. Last year the Mirfield-based label scoured the globe to find great music to release, including Oh, Rose (from Washington) and Swedish slow-motion punk from Fanpage. But the label also release music from a little closer to home, namely that of Newfoundland, a man from Wakefield who makes weird atmospheric folk music. After releasing a great little EP last year (also on Fox Food), Newfoundland has recently unveiled a new release, Good News Is Too True.
Opener ‘Border Line’ begins with percussion like clattering metal and the little pop of fireworks, with the whole thing draped in a dreamy gauze of piano and lo-fi faraway vocals. The result sounds something like Meursault meets Youth Lagoon’s debut album. ‘Good Shepherd’ has an Eastern mystic vibe and reminds me a little of Chad VanGaalen, while the acoustic guitar on ‘Eserkiel’ makes for an assured and comforting dream pop track. The final song, ‘Dear Friends’ is my current favourite. As the title suggests, it is about the importance of loved ones. “I could never make it on my own,” he sings.
[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/185717512″]
The whole thing feels like a not-unpleasant dream, not the twisting dark corners of a nightmare but a reassuringly familiar (if somewhat incoherent/illogical) set of memories, all spliced together in sepia tone. The sort of dream you are disappointed to wake up from and try to chase back through the layers of consciousness to no avail.
You can get Good News Is Too True via the Fox Food Records Bandcamp page, either on limited edition cassette (for a measly £3!) or on a pay-what-you-want download.