In his music John Foxx often details his relationship with cities. He hears what you and I might term ordinary everyday sounds as though they were music (technically they are!) and from that starting point of inspiration he can create either musical snapshots or full blown stories. London Overgrown is the product of three decades of documenting elements of England’s capital city, and how it has become overgrown – and not in the right way. Foxx’s wish is that we should let the green spaces assume greater importance again, and he suggests this with an attractive cover that views London in a kind of ‘I Am Legend’ state. The music Foxx writes to go with this only enhances the vivid imagery, for it is mostly set for synthesizers without percussion, and has a striking beauty in the case of tracks like ‘The Beautiful Ghost’, which builds towards and reaches a high peak of intensity. The lines on ‘Everything Is Illuminated’ reach out like tendrils of a tree, while elsewhere Foxx allows the music to hover in a rather beautiful state of suspense, seemingly taking in an aerial view of the city. ‘London Overgrown’ was initially planned for private release – but is proving so popular it will be fully released later this year. Quite right too, as there is some lovely music within its dense branches.
