Foxwarren are back, and they’re weirder, wilder, and more wonderful than ever. The Canadian five-piece — made up of longtime pals Andy Shauf, Avery and Darryl Kissick, Dallas Bryson, and Colin Nealis — just dropped Deadhead, the final single and video lifted from their much-anticipated new album ‘2,’ out now via ANTI-.
If their previous track Yvonne leaned into gentle beauty (AV Club called it “an understated kind of gorgeous”), Deadhead turns things on its head in the best possible way. Clocking in at just over three minutes, it’s a genre-hopping fever dream — think MF Doom-style samples, a jangly line-dance guitar riff, and blissed-out country harmonies, all stitched together with a patchwork of flutes, warped electronics, and surgically precise percussion. Somehow, it works beautifully.
And of course, Andy Shauf’s voice cuts through the sonic swirl with that signature warmth, singing “I won’t stop dancing” — which is exactly what this track makes you want to do.
The video? Pure puppet-fueled absurdity. Directed by Joe Cappa, it’s got wigs, medieval garb, and a flute-playing puppet baby (yes, those baby legs belong to his real-life 10-month-old son). It’s a fever dream, but in the most delightful way — one that somehow captures the emotional messiness and joy of the song without taking itself too seriously. “To all the deadheads, we say ‘don’t stop dancing,’” the band adds.
Foxwarren’s new album ‘2’ marks a big shift in how the band approaches songwriting. After touring their self-titled 2018 debut, they ditched the old “band in a room” formula. Instead, they worked long-distance, swapping sounds and sketches through shared folders while scattered across four provinces. Shauf would then piece together these fragments in Toronto, using samplers and beat-making techniques borrowed from hip-hop and musique concrète to shape songs from the rubble. The result is an album that feels experimental, intimate, and totally alive — a collage of moods that’s best blasted with the windows down.
Though Andy Shauf has carved out a stellar solo career — from the bittersweet storytelling of The Party to the existential reflections of Norm — Foxwarren taps into a different magic. It’s the sound of five longtime friends throwing out the rulebook, chasing whatever feels exciting, and building something beautiful together from the ground up.
‘2’ is a reminder that music can still surprise you — especially when you’re not afraid to mess around with a sampler and let the puppets dance.
Foxwarren’s new album ‘2’ is out now via ANTI-.
Go watch the Deadhead video, and maybe dig into the visuals for Yvonne and Listen2me while you’re at it — things are just getting interesting.
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