To move forward, sometimes you have to look back. That’s the strategy of singer-songwriter Conor Murphy and his band Foxing, who are hitting the road to mark the 10th anniversary of their debut album, The Albatross — a landmark collection that helped usher in the fourth wave of the so-called “emo revival” in 2013, setting an ambitious post-rock tone for the resurgence of a misunderstood genre over the past decade.
Following last year’s re-worked edition of the St. Louis band’s first LP, Foxing brings the anniversary tour to Summit in Denver on Feb. 28. Sharing the bill with fellow genre revivalists The Hotelier — who will be celebrating the 10th anniversary of their own debut Home, Like NoPlace Is There — Foxing will perform The Albatross in its entirety, from the lonesome howl of opening track “Bloodhound” to ethereal closer “Quietus,” followed by a smattering of tracks from throughout their distinguished, decade-long career.
“A few of the songs [on The Albatross] haven’t been played live in, like, eight years,” Murphy says. “And one or two have never been played live, or maybe just once or twice.”
Longtime listeners are no doubt anticipating the band’s deep dive into their earliest recordings, and Murphy understands the excitement. He says he knows the pull of nostalgia that comes with revisiting your favorite music from years gone by.
“I totally get that,” he says. “I’m trying not to be a cranky, older musician saying, ‘Why don’t people want to hear the new music? I recognize that when I go to a show, I want to hear the songs that I know the words to as well.”
Murphy is thinking about those listeners who’ve lived with the record for a decade as he and his bandmates work on breathing new life into it. To that end, he thinks fans will be interested to see “how somebody would treat these really small, nuanced parts of songs you’ve enjoyed on record for the past 10 years.”
But it’s not just the live version of Foxing’s debut getting a twist. Last year’s anniversary release, The Albatross: Ten Years, is a top-to-bottom reimagining of the band’s 2013 LP as interpreted by the next generation of emo and emo-ish torchbearers like Carly Cosgrove (“Bloodhound”) and Home Is Where (“Bit by a Dead Bee, Pt. I”), alongside re-recordings of fan favorites “The Medic” and “Rory.”
With an infusion of new blood into these time-tested classics, Foxing hopes to bring a similar energy on the road. To hear Murphy tell it, the band’s interpersonal dynamic has evolved in tandem with their relationship to the music itself.
“Everyone’s gotten into a groove. We have expectations for each other, and we’re at an age where we can go off and do our own things a bit,” Murphy says. “When we were younger, there was this spirit where we’re all friends, going out on the road for weeks on end together. We’re still all really close friends, but we need time away from each other to do our own things. There were years when we were on the road more than we were home. But now we give each other space, the privacy to have some semblance of ourselves.”
Foxing is no stranger to change. The band’s lineup has shifted over the years since the band’s founding in 2011, but its current crew of Murphy, Jon Hellwig (drums), Eric Hudson (guitar) and Brett Torrence (bass) are eyeing the future with hope as they look toward releasing their fifth LP later in 2024.
“I think we’ve gotten to this point in our writing and recording where we’re able to produce and record ourselves,” Murphy says. “It’s a really comfortable place.”
The road ahead for Foxing will no doubt feature its share of twists, turns and detours. But when it comes to the throughline connecting the various lineups, albums and tours of the long-running outfit’s still-being-written history, Murphy puts it simply: “This is the music we love the most.”
. . .
ON THE BILL: Foxing with The Hotelier. 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 28, Summit, 1902 Blake St., Denver. Tickets here.
Don't call it a comeback
Three 'emo revival' classics turning 10 this year
Joyce Manor
Never Hungover Again
With two beloved albums under their belt, California’s Joyce Manor had already established themselves as standard bearers of the basement-show singalong by the 2014 release of their LP Never Hungover Again— a searing 20-minute collection showcasing the band’s high-energy hooks, pop-punk gang vocals and wistful lyrics about better days gone by.
. . .
Modern Baseball
You’re Gonna Miss It All
Following their debut album Sports, the sophomore effort from Philly favorites Modern Baseball gave the fourth-wave emo resurgence its biggest commercial hit with their Billboard-charting sophomore effort, You’re Gonna Miss It All. The years since the band’s 2017 hiatus have found songwriter Jake Ewald charting a new path with his project Slaughter Beach, Dog, coming to Boulder’s Fox Theatre April 17. Read a Boulder Weekly preview of the show here.
. . .
The Hotelier
Home, Like NoPlace Is There
With its now-iconic cover art and penchant for emotive storytelling, the second album from New England quartet The Hotelier stands as one of the most celebrated emo releases of the past decade. When the band hits the stage with Foxing to perform the modern classic in its entirety, the crowd will no doubt ripple with joy at the album’s opening line: “Open the curtains, singing birds / tell me, ‘Tear the buildings down.’”