‘Pines’, the debut EP by Exeter based trio Black Foxxes, is brimming with emotion. Each of the five tracks showcased on the record see guitarist, vocalist and primary song-writer Mark Holley tackle issues both personal and abstract. The melody driven record – think Brand New with a rougher edge – discusses themes of illness, frustration and cabin fever. It’s an ominous insight into the Holley’s mind, yet one that provides optimism. Most importantly, it’s an insight accompanied by some beautifully macabre soundscapes that amp up the meanings hidden in the tracks.
“I’m fascinated with song writing and during this record I was experimenting with all sorts. The title track ‘Pines’ is definitely a story based track, but the others are songs people will be able to relate to in their own way,” Holley explains. “I have a habit of writing in a way that the listener will have to read between the lines to really understand the content. That was always my favourite type of writing growing up, something you could delve into yourself and spin your own interpretation of the lyrics, it made it personal to you. That’s what I always try to do when writing.”
Holley started working on Black Foxxes some time back, joined by musicians who have since disbanded. “River was actually the first song I wrote a year and a half a go,” he tell us, as he mentions the previous band-mates’ departure. “I’d always known Ant (Thornton – drums) in the scene down here and he had just parted ways with Brotherhood Of The Lake, so I gave him a call and we clicked straight away. He got it, invited Tris (Jane – bass) in for a jam and he played so outrageously loud we had to say yes. Here we are now.”
‘Pines’ has been a long-time labour of love – not only for Holley but for Thornton and Jane too. The EP was laid down some three months into the existence of Black Foxxes, yet according to Holley the trio waited until they were comfortable in their sound to release it into the world. The result, he continues, is both raw and experimental. “I think that’s kind of the beauty with the record though, its all about that raw and live sound. There’s nothing gimmicky about this record at all.”
With that, things are looking bright for 2015. Releasing ‘Pines’ at the end of the year is a deliberate decision. It gives them momentum as they race towards the new year, with heads already turning towards Black Foxxes as ‘Pines’ begins to spread. “We’re just going to play as many of the right shows as possible and release a shed load of noisy music,” Holley concludes, looking at things to come.
‘Pines’ will be available independently from the 24th November 2014. In the meantime, stream the record in full via the SoundCloud player below and see what Holley has to say in our track-by-track. Pre-order ‘Pines’ via iTunes.
‘Pines’ Track-By-Track
‘You Gotta Grow’
I wrote this song about the town I live in. It’s a small town in the middle of nowhere with a population of people that never seem to leave. I love my roots more than anyone, I’m obsessed with nature, the countryside and the simple things. But there comes a time that you want to leave all that behind to pursue the thing you love.
The chorus is an exact reflection of that. “I want to live again, I want to learn again, I want to see again. All we did was wrong, and now I’m feeling old.”
‘Home’
A song about waiting for everything to happen in my life. This song reflects how frustrated I was feeling at the time of writing. I’m an extremely solitary person and the song mirrors those emotions. The line about building a home simply equates to wanting to have a life completely by myself, where I don’t have to meet anyone else’s expectations.
‘River’
I guess you could say this is the ‘track about a girl’ on the EP. It’s a song about everyone’s experiences growing up, falling in love, having a crush, getting heart broken. It’s not about any specific person, it’s not necessarily about my experiences either. It’s about the situations people have to go through to find themselves. I think there’s a line or two in this track that everyone will be able to relate too. Some of it might seem vague, but to others, those parts will make perfect sense.
‘You Could Have Been A Man’
Ahhh, the deepest track on the EP lyrically. About three years ago I got diagnosed with Crohns disease, which completely turned my life upside down. If you know me you’ll know I don’t really get effected by things emotional, medical, physical. I just laugh it off. But after the year I had with Crohns I felt pretty reluctant to do anything. I didn’t think I’d be able to be a normal guy for the rest of my life. As far as the lyrics go, I wrote this song at a time in my life where I’d had to cancel a trip to America twice. I was told I wasn’t fit or able to do anything, and I mean anything. So it’s a pretty bleak song, but as I’ve always said ‘it’s all about the music’ – I may have been dealt a shit card but I got to write this song, and it was at this time that Black Foxxes formed. So I’d take years of suffering for that any day. Plus, I got to go to America anyway.
‘Pines’
As there is such little lyrical content in this song, the music better describes what’s going on in the story. I had recently watched a film ‘Martha Marcy May Marlene’ and was so moved by it I wanted to write a song about the realities of what goes on around us. The lyrics are about a wife who’s been in her relationship quite some time and is too scared to remove herself from it, meaning she’s in utter turmoil. The way the song crescendos mirrors its lyrical content. It’s aggressive/repetitive/angsty/engulfing and this all reflects the severity of reality that some women/men go through later on in their lives. Some people will find the content hard to listen to (I found it hard to write), but it’s meant to be that way. The subject is brutal, but it’s happening all around us. That’s the feeling I wanted to get across.