John Foxx: Avenham – UK – CD [2023]

1. On Waking
2. Ampurias To Ithaka
3. Dream Through Trees
4. The Best Of Us
5. A Murmuration
6. Avenham

We’re not quiiiiiiite finished with the Ultravox Family this week. It was barely a month ago when we discussed the upcoming John Foxx solo piano album due at the end of March, but that album-in-waiting has already been scooped by another Foxx solo album being released prior to that on February 24th. We received the notice just Monday that the “Avenham” project would be reaching our ears first. Foxx himself cites “London Overgrown,” the Ghost Harmonic project, the “Drift Music” album with Harold Budd, and his “My Lost City” album as touchstones. So that tells us that it is electronic in nature, unlike the solo piano album, but closer to the Ambient rather than Rock axis of Foxxwerk.

To hear Foxx speak of it, the music seems inspired by a look to the times and places where the world seemed a place of infinite possibilities. That sounds like the time of maturation but Foxx hopes that he’s skirting mere nostalgia. As do we. As with “The Arcade Project” album, this one is also CD only [be still my beating heart] and priced to move at £10.99/€12.99/$13.99. And it’s good to see designer Paul Agar using classic Foxxian typography.

I will wait a few weeks to put in my order so I can wrangle a shipment of this as well as “The Arcade Project” in a single package; avoiding separate, higher shipping charges from the UK. If you are also trying to get a full run of Metamatic Records numbers, then this may have your name on it too. So DJ hit that button.

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