Description

The Nature of Things

Foxfeather

“Carly Ricks Smith’s voice is unforgettable, a wonderful cross between the folky soprano of a young Joni Mitchell and the jazz-heavy range of Lake Street Dive’s Rachel Price.”

It’s rare when an Audiophile label steps out of its acoustic comfort zone and into the power and charged energy of a kick-ass rock band, but FoxFeather’s The Nature of Things is the kind of release that gets music lovers talking and feet tapping. This is one hell of an album that we at Octave Records are excited to share with you. Brilliant songwriting, powerful vocals, and by far one of the best recordings we’ve ever made. The Nature of Things is a must-have musical treasure. Recorded exclusively in pure DSD, this remarkable work is destined to become a classic, one that’ll be heard up and down the halls of audio shows the world over.

About Foxfeather

The band FoxFeather features Carly Ricks Smith (lead vocals), Laura Paige Stratton (Acoustic Guitar, Piano, Backing Vocals), Kate Farmer (Backing Vocals), Jay Elliott (Drums and Percussion), Blake Smith (Electric Guitar), Mark Dabrowski (Electric Bass), Oliver Jacobson (Fiddle), Eben Grace (Pedal Steel, Electric Guitar, Acoustic Guitar), and Eric Moon (Organ, Synthesizer). The band released their first full-length, self-titled album in October of 2016, and since then have been wowing crowds and building a huge following in Colorado and nationally. In this latest recording for Octave Records, The Nature of Things, songwriters Ricks Smith and Stratton have crafted a masterpiece—both musically and sonically.

Track Samples

Octave Audiophile Masters

The Recording

The original recording was captured by engineers, Jay Elliott and Gus Skinas, in October of 2020 at the Vernon Barn in Longmont, Colorado. The Barn, a popular live venue with great acoustics, was taken over for a week in order to lay down live the band’s rhythm and instrumental tracks. During those week-long sessions, Carly and Laura laid down scratch vocal tracks which were later replaced nearly a year later at Animal Lane Studios in Lyons, where the final mixes were built by engineer Jay Elliott (who was also the drummer) along with producer Eben Grace (of Grace Designs), and Octave Record’s Giselle Collazo. FoxFeather’s driving sound relies upon a strong rhythm track where special attention was paid to the microphone kit on Jay Elliott’s drums. When listening to this release on a high-end stereo system, crank up the tracks and hear how live and in-the-room this drumkit is. One of the best drum recordings to date.

• Kick Inside – Telefunken M82 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre
• Kick Outside – Soundelux U195 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre
• Snare Top 1 –Beyerdynamic M201 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre into Warm Audio WA76 Comp
• Snare Top 2 – Oktava 012 into Grace 801 Mic Pre
• Snare Bottom – Telefunken M80 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre
• Rack – EV RE20 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre
• Floor – Audix D4 into Aurora GTP8 Mic Pre
• OH Pair 1a and 1b–Beesneez Lulu FET into RND 5012 Mic Pre– HPF In at 85 Hz
• OH Pair 2a and b –Beyerdynamic M160 into Grace 801 Mic Pre into A Designs EM-PEQ 500 Low Shelf cut at 100Hz very slight and High Shelf Boost at 10K very slight
• OH Mono – Coles 4038 into Grace 801 Mic Pre
• Drum Room Mono – AKG 414 in Cardioid into Aurora GTP8 into IGS S-Type 500 VU Comp 4:1 Mix at 60%
• Drum Room Stereo – Gus’s *secret weapons* into Forssell Mic Pres

Download the recording booklet

Album Features

Video

To date, every person we have played FoxFeather’s album, The Nature of Things has been instantly hooked. The songs are so good once you hear them they’ll stay with you. FoxFeather’s foot-tapping music is just so great it’s hard to put into words. One need only listen to Carly and Laura talk about their music to get hooked. Spend the next 6 minutes with singer-songwriters Carly Ricks Smith and Laura Paige Stratton as they share their thoughts and emotions on crafting one of the best albums of the year, FoxFeather’s, The Nature of Things.

Reviews

Like nothing I have ever heard

I bought and downloaded this stunning Foxfeather album. The recording is like nothing I have heard before – extraordinary.

Thanks to PS Audio and Octave Records.

– Richard Peace

Just awesome

I downloaded The Nature of Things. Paul, they are just awesome, musically and technically. Such a pleasure to listen to. They are so much out of the ordinary, I say so as I have tried other sources selling HiRes and DSD. None comes even close, and some I would rather declare being fakes. Octave records is now my only source for digital music files to purchase. I can hear (and see with an analyzer) Gus‘ fingerprints all over them. Terrific.

– Hans in Hamburg

Electrifyingly real!

A phenomenal album. Electrifyingly real, with spectacular air and presence. Another good job very well done. Please keep it up! You’re leaving the others in the dust.

David

– Dr. David Campbell

Best recording yet

Wow. The Octave hits just keep on coming. I’ve never had sound so live and right in my room. Thanks for the chance to get a first crack at this amazing album

– J.R. Henley

What a voice

The singer is amazing. I would love to see them live.

– foreweather

Fillin’ me up rocks!

My favorite is Filling it up. That song just rocks. You can tell the drummer is pushing the band, driving them hard. Great work.

– R. Bensley

I just caught the video

I just caught Too Damn Small on the video. That was enough for me. I am buying this album right now.

– Todd

About Octave Records

Honoring the Music and Those Who Make It

Our mission at Octave Records™ is simple – respect musicians by paying them fairly, and respect their music by bringing it to life in the highest-quality possible.

Too often, musicians have to absorb the costs of production, leaving them little or any earnings – or even putting them in debt. And the quality of their recordings end up in last place. We at PS Audio and Octave Records are dedicated to correcting these inequities.

To support musicians, Octave™ covers 100% of all studio, mixing, mastering, production, distribution, and marketing expenses so that artists may directly share in retail sales revenues – while retaining ownership of their music.

Octave Records is dedicated to offering the highest-quality recordings in high-resolution formats including pure DSD on SACD , as well as 192kHz PCM. Located in Boulder, Colorado, Octave utilizes the world’s finest studio equipment, based around the acclaimed Sonoma™ DSD recording, mixing, and mastering system. Gus Skinas, our world-renowned mastering engineer, has hundreds of album credits and helped design the Sonoma system.