LIMERICK band Fox Jaw brought out another large slice of their brand of dark pop in the form of new album ‘Breathe In The Strange’ this week.
The album’s polished performances, dark slow grooves and cinematic ambition make ‘Breathe In The Strange’ a satisfying and cohesive listen from the opening riff to the eleven minute Shadowland that closes out the record.
The eight tracks were recorded over a few months in various locations including Dolan’s, Limerick Institute of Technology and at the site of the Balls of Iron Studios near Annacotty which will bring back happy memories to Limrockers from the early 00’s.
Limerick Post chatted with Morgan Nolan and Shane Serrano of Fox Jaw about the album.
Now almost 20 years making music together, Shane and Morgan and the band overcame the challenges of having the band living in different locations across Limerick, Galway and Tipperary to write and record. With marriages, kids and relocating out of Limerick there was a lot of figuring out to do.
Shane says, “Getting into the flow of writing songs was difficult. When you are just gigging and touring, you prep the set for the next show, play that tour and start again.
“We needed to step back and make an album.”
The band initially picked multiple rehearsal spaces in Limerick and Galway to write the album.
“It felt like we were gigging every week.” says Morgan.
Renting a house in Loughrea got the band together for a weekend but the results sounded, “very jammy”.
“We were losing a lot of hours.” adds Shane.
Finally, by swapping demo ideas and meeting regularly at Self Storage rehearsal space on the Dock Road, Limerick, the songs started to take form.
Mike Gavin of Windings produced the record and its eight tracks is the perfect length for a vinyl release.
“Vinyl wasn’t too much on our radar when we first started out!”
We would go with 14, 15 songs on a CD so that was fine.”
“It is the first time we have adapted to the format that it will come out on physically.”
There is only a short limited run of vinyl versions of the album. Log onto fox-jaw.bandcamp.com/album/breathe-in-the-strange for more details.
Fox Jaw’s new album ‘Breathe In The Strange’ is out now on all streaming and download platforms.
The band’s tour starts in De Barra’s, Clonakilty this February 28.
Fox Jaw play Dolan’s Warehouse on Saturday March 28.
