Foxygen - How Can You Really

Foxygen don’t deny that they’re referential. They get their kicks from parents’ record collections. They dress like their heroes and often wind up sounding just like them. On ‘21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic’, they produced pure carbon copies. It seemed crass at times, but it often sparked brilliant results. ‘How Can You Really’ - one of twenty-four tracks to make up their ‘… And Star Power’ LP, which in itself harks back to an age when bands could get away with releasing gigantic packages for the hell of it - marks a continuation. But it’s also their cleanest, most assured take on nostalgia so far.

In an accompanying video, frontman Sam France continues to execute his finest glam rock impression. But behind the glitz and the camera-hogging, there’s a timeless piece of songwriting that leaps right up to the forefront. Jonathan Rado’s role has been switched to the piano, and it’s his chiming lines that lead the way, here. ‘How Can You Really’ puts a glossy mask on the past, but it’s hard to imagine a song like this ever falling on hard crowds. It’s too melodically clean, too charming to be ignored.