Dealer is the second
studio album
An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...
by
American
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
rock band
Foxing
Foxing is an age-related process of deterioration that causes spots and browning on paper documents such as books, postage stamps, old paper money and certificates, and on textiles such as clothing and artists' canvasses. The name may be a var ...
. The album was released on October 30, 2015 through
Triple Crown Records
Triple Crown Records is a New York–based rock music record label created in 1997 by Fred Feldman. The label features such artists as The Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter, ''Artists Page'' and launched the career of Brand New in 2001. ...
.
Background
The album was recorded from May 11 to June 5, 2015 at Red Room Recordings in
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...
.
Parts of the song were also recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle and also in the band's hometown,
St. Louis
St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...
.
The first single, "The Magdalene", was released as a digital download and for streaming on August 22, 2015.
On August 28,
Triple Crown Records
Triple Crown Records is a New York–based rock music record label created in 1997 by Fred Feldman. The label features such artists as The Receiving End of Sirens and The Dear Hunter, ''Artists Page'' and launched the career of Brand New in 2001. ...
put the official audio of the song on their
YouTube
YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...
channel. In an interview with
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
, lead singer Conor Murphy described the song about losing his
virginity
Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereo ...
and his perception of it being associated with being raised in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
.
On September 25, 2015, Foxing released the second single off the album, "Weave".
Writing for ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', Eric Danton described the song as lush and having a textured feel.
In a positive review of the track, Gabriela Tully Claymore, writing for ''
Stereogum
''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine.
''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...
'' described the track as a majestic return for Foxing.
Critical reception
''Dealer'' was well-received by contemporary music critics. On
Metacritic
Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, a
review aggregator
A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...
website, the album received an average score of 76 out of 100, indicating "general favorable reviews".
Ian Cohen, writing for
Pitchfork
A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials.
The term is also applie ...
, gave the album a 7.6 out of 10, describing ''Dealer'' as "an artistic triumph".
Cohen further said that he felt ''Dealer'' was a better album than their debut album, ''
The Albatross
An albatross is one of a family of large winged seabirds.
Albatross or Albatros may also refer to:
Animals
* Albatross (butterfly) or ''Appias'', a genus of butterfly
* Albatross (horse) (1968–1998), a Standardbred horse
Literature
* Albatr ...
'', saying that ''Dealer'' is "a significant advance from ''The Albatross'', it's even heavier, more compositionally complex, and more personally revealing than its predecessor."
In a rave review by the staff of ''
AbsolutePunk
''AbsolutePunk'' was a website, online community, and alternative music news source founded by Jason Tate (the most recent CEO). The website mainly focused on artists who are relatively unknown to mainstream audiences, but it was known to featu ...
'' there was consensus that the album would be a hallmark of emo revival comparing it to ''
Harmlessness'' by
. The staff stated that Foxing "have set a new standard with Dealer not just for emo, but for indie and alternative rock across the board."
In a more mixed review, Tom Shepherd, writing for ''
Kerrang!
''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...
'', gave the album three stars out of five.
[Shepherd 2015, p. 54]
Track listing
Personnel
;Foxing
* Josh Coll — Group Member
* Jon Hellwig — Group Member
* Eric Hudson — Group Member
* Conor Murphy — Group Member
* Enrique Sampson — Group Member
;Production and recording
*
Matt Bayles
Matt Bayles (; born October 19, 1972) is an American record producer, mixer, engineer, and musician, based in Seattle, Washington. Bayles is known for his work with bands such as The Classic Crime, Isis, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Botch, Mastodon, ...
— Mixing, Producer
* Fred Feldman — A&R
* Joe Lambert — Mastering
* Ryan Wasoba — Engineer
* Juuso Westerlund — Photography
* Teagan White — Artwork, Layout, Typography
;Additional musicians
* Rachel Browne — Vocals
* Lizzie Costello — Vocals
* Nouela Johnston — Vocals
* Alex Rose — Saxophone
* Hans Teuber — Clarinet
* Emma Tiemann — Cello, Viola, Violin
* Jacob Whinihan — Percussion
Charting
References
;Citations
;Sources
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dealer
2015 albums
Foxing (band) albums
Triple Crown Records albums
Albums produced by Matt Bayles