True Foxes - HOWL (2024)

Brand New British Americana Hybrid With a Splash of Bluegrass in The Background. If I’m being perfectly honest, it has been hard work listening to this album; not because it’s not any good – far from it; but the opening track Devil’s Calling really grates with me; again not actually a bad song as such; but could have been better served in the middle or towards the end …. methinks.

Cousins Amie Parsons and Chloe Payne both have fabulous voices, and when they harmonise ….. oooohhh … it’s simply gorgeous; so I think either the fabulous #2 Follow The Leader or How Are You Now? would be better served to catch the ear of the casual listener and give them an inkling of what is to follow; but what do I know?

Hailing from the SW of England True Foxes neatly straddle the contemporary Folk and British Americana fence like road worn troubadours; writing intricate songs that will appeal to the Generation Z demographic and crusty oldies alike with heartbreaking songs like Cry Wolf and Leave The Light On with the jaunty Higher and Devil’s Calling making your toes tap while challenging your brain at the same time.

True Foxes straddle both Contemporary Folk and the British Americana ‘sound’ that is proving popular these days; but if ever the girls visit America; I’m sure the Bluegrass scene will embrace them like long lost cousins; as it would only take a tweak or two to Wanderer or Higher to make them sound like they were written in a shack somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Amie Parsons and Chloe Payne have become ubiquitous on music stations in the South West (and the rest of the UK, apparently) since the release of their EP Sunny in 2022, while building up an extraordinary number of appearances at festivals and in concert, in the company of some impressive names from Steve Knightly to Magpies or Sharps And Flats. However, their debut album Howl, scheduled for release on 1st March 2024, gives us eleven more reasons to listen out for them. At has to be said that to my ear there isn’t much of an overt folk influence here, even though much of the instrumentation is acoustic. If country rock and Americana appeal to you, though, there are some fine vocal harmonies here, some unobtrusively excellent playing, and some impossibly catchy songs with some clever lyrics.