Sanctuary is out now!
Image: Supplied.
Last week, Sydney four-piece Thunder Fox unveiled their superb sophomore album, Sanctuary. To celebrate the release, the group have shared with MILKY five tracks (well, four songs and one pumping album) that they wish they had written!
Speaking of the record, frontman Sam Dawes shares: “Sanctuary is our second full length album which marks the dawning of a new era for the Thunder Fox in many ways. After having a couple of members leave the band and experiencing a few other obvious setbacks during 2020/21 we needed a second wind. As an artist it’s really easy to lose motivation and focus when faced with challenges that draw you away from your art such as band member turnaround and, say, a global pandemic. As such, I think we all really felt the need to pick up where we’d left off somehow and find some momentum by creating again. With the addition of Case Bass the Bass Ace to the crew, it was a great change to dig in to some new and improved sounds and try to reshape our art in a way we had yet to explore.”
"I should preface this by saying I wish I wrote pretty much every song I like, obviously. But here’s a couple that stuck out." - Sam Dawes
SUPERWOMAN - STEVIE WONDER
I’ve always been enamoured by songs that could move through passages like chapters in a book. Superwoman is more of a symphony than a song, the two movements capture the profundity of desire, heartbreak and confusion in the context of romance at two separate stages. The amalgamation of yearning and blind optimism are simultaneously relatable and unique in perspective. I also wish I could fuckin sing like that. - Sam Dawes, frontman.
A CASE OF YOU - JONI MITCHELL
Speaking of heartbreak… Some songs are at home only in their original form, playthings to be enjoyed for the moment and only that specific moment. Other songs like this one are, in every sense of the concept, SONGS. On any stage, performed by anyone with even a modicum of salty vapour remaining on their cheeks from love gone by, A Case of You pretty much sums it up. It’s the perfect, quintessential break-up song. Just try and write one that hits harder, I dare ya.
- Sam Dawes, frontman.
I LOVE YOU - BILLIE EILISH
There’s no single facet of music that makes one song touch you in a way that others don’t. So much goes into the individual experience of listening, whether it’s where you sit in life, how you feel on a particular day or the nostalgic memories attached to one artist or another. Billie Eilish and her song I Love You encapsulates what I crave in a song; a physical sensation like frost under the skin that sheds goosebumps and steals breath. The idea of feeling a way that you wish you didn’t is powerfully relatable to me, and Billie’s performance here has accompanied me on many vulnerable moments of self discovery.
- Jesse Tachibana, trumpet/synth.
NO HANDS - KOJAQUE
Kojaque is a sublime lyricist/rapper, and in No Hands he invites you so effortlessly into his world. It feels intimate and vulnerable, like he’s opened a secret door to his mind which only you can peer into. Dope flow and an ingenious beat merge into an emotive masterpiece that is so much larger than the sum of its parts.
- Travers Keirle, saxophone/vocals. [paraphrased by Jesse]
BLOOD SUGAR SEX MAGIC (ALBUM) - RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS
I know this was supposed to be just 1 song but sometimes an album has to be appreciated in its entirety, no exceptions. BSSM epitomises raw and unadulterated music. I love how the whole album is crafted by 4 guys armed solely with a bass, drums, guitar and voice, all letting loose. Compared to most recordings these days that are so dense with layers, it album blows my mind how full and rich they make BSSM sound.
This raw energy was my first music love; it drew me to the excitement of music and the prospect of playing in a band. Fleas funky, shameless basslines on this album are still some of my favourites, they're a huge inspiration for me as a bass player to put my own stamp on my bass lines and not to hold back.
Sanctuary is out now!