Keeping the bar extraordinarily high this year, Foux is an artist who has spent many years perfecting and exploring various areas of musicianship – beginning with mastering the piano, initially building a following from his skills in this area alone. His later creative ventures into production have sealed the deal in many ways. His long awaited EP Boréal is out now, and it’s more than worth the time it takes to experience the music.
Boréal features a gorgeous collection of tracks, the sort that appear before you as colourful, expressive works of art, fusing genres and samples and instruments and effects, but more importantly – fusing emotions and moments that really take you by surprise.
The brief yet vibrant energy of Intro kicks things off in a peacefully chaotic fashion. The music dances around you, seeming both high energy and gentle, creating what feels like a much more intricate or memorable experience than the time frame should classically allow. Then onward through Boo and Green Mist, the soundscapes are so intricately detailed and expressive, building up these entire worlds of thought and audio, almost in a cinematic sort of way. The latter in particular is incredibly easy to have play on repeat, so much thought has gone into the crafting of the experience – the stops and re-starts, the changes, the unexpected evolution – it feels all at once uncommon, unusual, and perfectly comforting.
Song For Boul has a much more classic EDM rhythm to it than anything prior. The music has the same smoothly uplifting energy, the instrumentation brings together elements of the natural world and some from a more retro palette. You can again get lost in the movement, the familiar good vibes, but every so often a particular riff or sample or moment will re-direct your attention, reminding you of the creative freedom and passion that is at the heart of the collection.
Dancing Lights follows on beautifully. Snippets of delicate vocals meet with a lightly bouncy beat and a touch of something electronically tropical – which isn’t a term used all too often (if at all). This particular song really showcases the skill and focus that has driven the production on this EP. To say that Foux is an experienced creative and musician is a massive understatement. The more you listen, the more you notice, and with every new detail the enjoyment grows stronger.
The final song of this project is Aurora. The underlying energy feels familiar by now, the track begins in a recognisable way – that delicacy, that upbeat yet weightless energy, that electronically tropical touch. Occasionally the music strikes as being impossibly organic, everything is beautifully crisp and clean, complete in its own right. The mood this final track sets around you leaves you with the perfect feeling to remember the entire EP by, and indeed, to get on with your day in a hopeful and optimistic manner.
Adding to the positive energy and passion of this release is the fact that Foux’s EP Boréal is the result of a successful crowdfunding campaign. As an artist, his dedication to creating has driven him to work and hone his skills throughout his life, to the point that he has masterfully perfected his own style of artistry, and furthermore, is willingly and necessarily pushing the ‘business’ side of things (so to speak), in a bid to reach a wider audience and to be able to continue making music full time. The success of the campaign, or of any campaign of this sort, generally, speaks volumes for the quality of the art and the likability or authenticity of the maker. The music throughout this project is superb, as explored above, but it makes such a difference on top of this to know of the humanity and heart that came before it.
As a playlist, Boréal is a beauty. As a musician and producer, Foux is someone you quite possibly have missed out on for far too long now. Well worth paying attention to.
The EP Boréal is available now via the usual online music platforms. Find & follow Foux on Facebook, Soundcloud & Instagram.
