Following the release of their latest album “Mannequin Deposit” in 2024, Midwest, Gothic band The House Flies has been laying low, working privately and retrospectively. Now, they are releasing a new track, “Sweet Foxhound”. To be released on the 16th of September, the new track follows the band’s distinct broody, unsettling style, at once forming a consistent identity with previous releases and introducing something new.
As the band has been working on this track for a long time (while working on “Mannequin Deposit”) and has even played it live multiple times, the track functions somewhat curiously in its bridging between their past work and their future releases, including the album the band is currently working on. As such, it’s also the first single that features guitarist Burnie Eckardt (Dynoride), making it function as the premiere for a new dynamic and new lineup as well.
More influenced by 80s reinterpretations of the 60s psychedelic music rather than the OGS directly, the song has a certain nostalgic distance to it that perfectly complements its fragile, delicate melody and vocals. With falsetto-like vocals reminiscent of Sufjan Stevens, vocalist Alex Riggen is the heart of the song, adding a touch of softness that immediately evokes affection from listeners.
Yet, the musical work, Eckardt and Riggen’s guitar, Ozzie Woods’s bass, and Nick Pompou’s drums add an unsettling layer to the song that it a uniquely situated experience, mirrored by the low-saturated musical video of the band singing in dog masks. Overall, the new track is promising to what the band is preparing for their coming album and to what their style is evolving to be.
