Evocative emotion can be a double-edged sword. It can give serious weight to musical material, but it can also come off as pleading, even preening. There’s a reason that emo is beloved by some, but mocked by others. Doing it decidedly better is U.K.’s Black Foxxes on I’m Not Well.
Veering away from the teen pleads of emo and towards the epic cries of harder fare, Black Foxxes do the quiet/loud evocation right. Nowhere on Well is this better than epic single “Whatever Lets You Cope” (QRO review), but other standouts include the album’s opener/title track, the effective “River”, and the Manchester Orchestra (QRO live review) like “Slow Jams Forever”.
Not every song on Well is done as well, and there are pieces that can plead too much (“Bronte”) or are loud without enough emotion (“Home”). But this is a strong, evocative cry.
