Sanctuary – a word that generally refers to a place of respite. A retreat or a haven.
For Sydney’s Thunder Fox, the idea of Sanctuary comes fully realised as a collection of music that is both immersive and escapist. It’s fun and energetic, and unafraid to dabble in darkness and self-indulgence.
It’s a new vibe for Thunder Fox but one that fans will love: for their second studio album, the Sydney group is leaving it all on the table.
Sanctuary is the perfect jump off point for music fans looking to book a one way ticket into a soundscape that is fantastical, layered with groove; peppered with soulful and rich vocals. All wrapped up and delivered with unique flair.
The album has already been teased with the release of a trio of singles ‘Not For Sale’, ‘Love You 2’ and ‘Head In The Clouds’ – three songs that demonstrated the variety of tones and sounds Sanctuary has to offer.
From big gospel notes to swinging horns and R&B balladry, Thunder Fox threw themselves into the album making process with a strong sense of sound and core identity about themselves. And in doing so, they were able to confidently stride into new territory as a band and try new things out without the anxiety of leading the band’s already established ‘sound’ too far astray.
Across its 13 tracks, Sanctuary manoeuvres between straight up party tunes (‘Good Time’, ‘The Stew’) and expansive moods that speak to the classics like Prince, Funkadelic and Fat Freddy’s Drop. Between them, Thunder Fox thrives on expertly laid down rhythm and groove sections, not to mention the captivating vocals of frontman Sam Dawes.
A powerful partnership of musicians, Thunder Fox have kicked things up quite a few notches from their debut album Love At First Sniff – Sanctuary is the band’s invite to fans and newcomers alike to become reacquainted.
“Sanctuary is our second full length album which marks the dawning of a new era for the Thunder Fox in many ways. After having a couple of members leave the band and experiencing a few other obvious setbacks during 2020/21 we needed a second wind.”
“As an artist it’s really easy to lose motivation and focus when faced with challenges that draw you away from your art such as band member turnaround and, say, a global pandemic. As such, I think we all really felt the need to pick up where we’d left off somehow and find some momentum by creating again. With the addition of Case Bass the Bass Ace to the crew, it was a great change to dig in to some new and improved sounds and try to reshape our art in a way we had yet to explore.”
Sam Dawes, Thunder Fox