In May, Foyer Red released their debut full length Yarn the Hours Away on Carpark. Described by BrooklynVegan as “sounding like a mosh pit in a ball pit full of skittles,” the record was the culmination of a sustained build up of excitement around the Brooklyn band that had seen them earn praise from outlets like Pitchfork, Stereogum, FADER, Paste, Spin, Loud & Quiet and many others, while building their reputation as a live band sharing stages with a coterie of like-minded contemporaries like Deeper, Cola, Empath, Babehoven, Why Bonnie, Peaer, Momma and Mamalarky.
Today, to put a cap on what has been a banner year for the band, Foyer Red are sharing two new singles, “Tallest Dogwood” and “Barkin’ Up A Knot,” ahead of a run of December dates with Speedy Ortiz. Grab tickets here.
“Tallest Dogwood” comes from the Yarn the Hours Away sessions, and shares a sonic kinship with the band’s debut, settling into a driving groove before clattering in a wholly unexpected direction, before finding its why back to center.
“This song is an outtake from Yarn the Hours Away,” Elana Riordan explains. “Our album art actually has a drawing of “milk on a spoon” from a lyric in the song. The lyrics are an ode to my childhood home and a lot of the memories that stick out from growing up there, like, my brother swallowing a penny, my dad playing guitar on the porch during thunderstorms, etc. My dad planted a dogwood tree there for each of his children and mine grew the tallest.”
“Barkin’ Up a Knot” is an older song, but the gentle treatment the band gives it represents an intriguing new direction for Foyer Red.
“This song is a special one from the Foyer Red vault,” says Riordan. “We self-recorded it at home. Mitch plays banjo in the song and drums with brushes, a very different sound for us. The lyrics are loosely based on Greek mythology; it’s Persephone’s monologue to Hades who has kept her in the Underworld. I originally wrote the lyrics as a B-side to ‘Pickles’ which is about pressure, combustion, dryness, rust. This song juxtaposes that with cool water, cerulean, growth, and starlight.”
