Hello My Name is Foxes
Phoning from her native England recently , Louisa Rose Allen admitted that over a year of on-again , off-again pandemic lockdown had essentially ground her life to a screeching halt . “ It ’ s like a rollercoaster that ’ s just not moving , isn ’ t it ?” she asked rhetorically , adding a wry chuckle for punctuation . Because the existential irony certainly is not lost on her — at the beginning of 2017 , this songwriter / model who
05 • 2021 records and performs as Foxes had already watched her career shut down , of her own carefully-planned volition . Only a few years earlier , her name was everywhere — long before her chart-topping 2014 debut Glorious was released , she had won an actual Best Dance Recording Grammy for “ Clarity ,” her collaboration with producer Zedd , and she wound up singing on cuts by Rudimental and Fall Out Boy , being personally invited by Pharrell to open his 2014 European tour , and even filming an ultra-cool cameo on the cult BBC TV series Dr . Who . But after the second set , All I Need in 2016 , she reckoned that what she need was a long , relaxing break from showbiz , until she recently returned with a punchy synth-tropical single , “ Love Not Loving You ,” also featured on her new seventrack comeback EP , Friends In the Corner . And her quirky take on pop feels like a welcome breath of fresh air , on an R & B-sultry “ Kathleen ,” the symphonic thumper “ Dance ,” a delicate piano ballad called “ Woman ,” and a shimmering iridescent title cut . Foxes were happy to map out the trail that led her into her den and then back out again .
IE : So why did you bow out of music in 2017 ? Foxes : What ’ s interesting is , I didn ’ t ever really LEAVE the music industry . I was actually still doing a lot just behind the scenes . I continued writing , and I continued just being there . I was still standing , but I just had to go and find some inspiration from different places , I think .
IE : Did you travel ? Foxes : Well , actually , I did quite a few writing camps in the jungle . And lots of people went — I was there with quite a few other writers and artists . And it was actually the label that put out my very first record on vinyl ( the 2012 single “ Youth ”), Neon Gold — they were setting these camps up , so I was just like , “ Well , why not ?” So I just headed to the jungle for a bit , which I guess you could say sort of counts as leaving the face of the
Earth . It was in Nicaragua , actually , and it was definitely an experience and quite wild . Continued on page 8
6 illinoisentertainer . com may 2021