Written by Chris Delente
We’ve been waiting and we know that you have too. Stray Fossa, a band that started out in Sewanee, Tennessee has released 3 new tracks recently and we’re going to review all 3! They’ve been featured on our page a bit before, but in case you’re new here and need a background, they took a bit of a break for some years after moving from Tennessee, and met up in Richmond, VA. They gained a lot of their inspiration from their parents’ record collection, which you can hear in the way brothers Nick and Will Evans, and Zach Blount combine retro-synths and reverb layered guitar chords.
The first track they recently dropped is called, “Orange Days” and it has the feeling you get when you wake up in the morning and you’re excited for what the day will bring. It brings excitement in the hook, yet it transitions into a more relaxing portion with the verse, and drops into a crazy bridge towards the end (you’ll want to hear this). Check out the track here:
Next up we have “Best Kind of Moment” with which they released a video for. The video combines elements of relaxing sunsets at the beach and effects that will ease your mind. The Drummer, Will Evans, actually recorded the original version of this song when he was alone in the house late one fall evening back in 2018, then forgot about it for two years. The band rediscovered it while listening to old demos while on tour and decided to rehash it. It’s got some similar vibes to the last track, but instead of an energetic hook, it has a feeling that eases all of your stress. This could be a great song to listen too after having a long day. Check out the video below:
Last, we have a track that just came out this week. This one is called, “Diving Lane” and it’s our favorite of the 3 recent releases. This one was created in the peak of lockdown. The band says, “We wanted to write about finding optimism in another person. The percussive coda was crafted collaboratively and gave the song its title.” It combines some acoustic guitar with some reverb layered guitar chords and evolves into another hook that once again combines all of the feelings we mentioned before. This one really shows the evolution of Stray Fossa, and makes us extremely excited for their debut LP release, “With You For Ever” which comes out 04/09.
Chris Delente is a freelance writer, audio engineer/producer, and overall music obsessor who has lived in the Washington D.C. area since birth. He is also a huge Washington Redskins fan, and an equally enthusiastic supporter of all D.C. sports.
By this point in his life, Foghat founding drummer Roger Earl has visited quite a few doctors. But what may be surprising is that the percussionist, 77, is quick to point out that many of the medical professionals who have worked on him also enjoy rocking out.
“Nearly all the doctors and surgeons I know, they all play something: trumpet, sax, violin, guitar,” Earl said recently. “There’s not too many drummers that are surgeons, there’s probably a good reason for that!”
Earl half-jokingly invites his surgeon-rockers to join him and the other members of Foghat onstage at the Fillmore in Silver Spring March 9, where they will be headlining the Rock and Roll for Children Foundation benefit for the Children’s Inn at NIH. Earl, the only original member of Foghat still in the band, will be banging the skins behind guitarist Bryan Bassett and other members Scott Holt and Rodney O’Quinn. “Slow Ride,” the band’s 1975 megahit, is all but assured to be on the setlist, along with tunes from Foghat’s most recent record, “Sonic Mojo.”
Alchemical Records is a Washington, D.C. based music publication. We cover the Washington, D.C., Baltimore and Richmond, VA metro area music scenes, including band interviews, articles about your favorite musicians, new music and concert dates.