Bill Fox
Shelter from the Smoke (Cherrypop) (star) (star) (star) (star)
“Let in the Sun,” one of the most impressive tracks on Bill Fox’s new record, seems at first to be a gorgeous, spare evocation of the folk-pop brilliance of the Byrds. The song’s lyrics, however, paint a picture of a man so despondent that he can barely rouse the energy to open the curtains of his darkened room. That this anguished song manages to be uplifting is a credit to the pop songcraft of Fox, the former leader of the late ’80s Ohio punk band the Mice. Though much of the music on “Shelter from the Smoke” echoes the plaintive, acoustic folk of Bob Dylan or the lyrical harmonies of Big Star, Fox’s melodic reveries and energetic raveups are intensely personal, leaving the listener with an indelible impression of the sensitive soul that dwells within that darkened room.
