Foxtrails’ entrancing new song “Gemini” is a celestial kaleidoscope of funky psych-folk heat ready to envelop you in a cinematic dream.
for fans of Fleet Foxes, Santana
Stream: “Gemini” – Foxtrails
This is how music was meant to sound: A wash of warmth; an instrumental flurry; a buoyant groove; and a vibey, pulsing solo. Foxtrails’ new song “Gemini” is a celestial kaleidoscope of funky psych-folk heat ready to envelop you in a cinematic dream.
Caught between, between two sides
Question doors, a little too wide
Artist always tryin to hide.
Two tone lover in the night
Atwood Magazine is proud to be premiering “Gemini,” the first single off Foxtrails’ upcoming sophomore album, set for released later in 2019. Debuting just last year, Foxtrails weave a wondrous psychedelic folk tapestry similar to the likes of Fleet Foxes, with their own special California washed-out warmth. Consisting of Blake McLeod, Dane Sandborg, Micah Sohl, Michael Brenner, Cory Yamashiro, Nikita Sorokin, and Dylan Grombacher, the Venice-based band released their self-titled debut album in May.
“Gemini” finds Foxtrails returning to the fore ahead of a show at The Hi Hat Los Angeles on May 3, reviving the spellbinding sounds of their first record and injecting them with a hazy, lush glaze. The band have nowhere to be in “Gemini” – they’re happy to bask in the heat of the moment – and yet, there’s still this driving urgency pushing “Gemini” onward, demanding that the music flow and that the melodies coalesce.
Dark on the road, chasing that light
Stained glass framed in the noble sky
Coals spill from the kiln
Truth threads the wind carving light
Fans of Fleet Foxes and Santana alike will bask in the ambient and immersive “Gemini,” a perfect soundtrack for summer wand’rings and mid-afternoon relaxing. The track finds singer and guitarist Blake McLeod diving deep into ideas of our purpose and being; of life’s ebb and flow: “Dark on the road, chasing that light,” he sings, referencing that ever-illusive comprehension of life that, no matter how hard we try, will forever evade our grasp.
“Gemini is a personal as well as a universal dialogue that we as humans share,” McLeod explains. “The journey starts with an artist questioning existence. Different roads appear in life’s process, some seem narrow requiring more from oneself. If you take the shortcut what are you truly giving up? The person searches, and searches for clear answers: Trying to identify and make sense of life, and purpose. Finally we let go of a personal ego, stop searching with urgency, and realize there really isn’t one answer. You accept your place like a speck of sand in the river of time, releasing yourself while finding yourself among everything.”
You accept your place like a speck of sand in the river of time, releasing yourself while finding yourself among everything.
There’s immense beauty to be found within this trippy revelation: Once we open our minds to the notion that there is no “answer” to life – that our existence might not be predetermined or decided; that life is what you make of it, and we’re here and conscious and just a part of the giant circle; once we open our minds to this idea, we begin to free ourselves from the constraints and burdens of doubt.
Taking shape, scattered in the wind
Both sides of the river,
forks and the bends
Silver and gold, fingers meet
Both sides of the river
Forks and the bends
“Gemini” is the musical application of this revelation, a journey through nighttime inquiries that gradually expands its musicality, incorporating a dazzling and well-orchestrated array of instruments that ultimately take flight together. “Gemini” soars outward and upward in its second half as Foxtrails rise beyond that metaphorical mental cage, ascending with grace and fluidly finding the time to let each of the band’s members shine.
Out May 3rd, “Gemini” sets up Foxtrails for an exciting 2019 as the band prove themselves a tight, progressive act full of talent and a wealth of creativity. For now stream “Gemini” exclusively on Atwood Magazine, and sink your soul into its immersive wonder.
Stream: “Gemini” – Foxtrails
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? © Erina Uemura