Mr Fogg - Stung

Listening to, and attempting to analyse, Mr Fogg is a bizarre experience. While his approach to making music is very much contemporary – electronic synths etc – his lyrics are incredibly poetic and well crafted (“Oh what a surprise/I can’t resist taking sides/Squeezing it for every drop/As long as you don’t feel it/Don’t matter who’s bleeding/’Cos out of sight it’s justified”). Such thoughtful, tenebrous lyrics would seem strangely juxtaposed against the buzzing electronic melodies. However, somehow Mr Fogg succeeds in amalgamating the two and thereby creating a highly original and altogether engaging sound. His latest single, Stung, taken from his debut LP Moving Parts, is no exception to this.

It is incredibly appropriate that the artist should take his name from the fictional explorer Phileas Fogg, as he undeniably draws the listener into unexplored territory with his soothing electronic hums, snappy beat and soaring vocals. The multi-layered aspects to Fogg’s work that are so clearly evident in Stung create a somewhat dreamlike quality and, with the sound constantly oscillating between the sharp, threatening drum beat and airy, almost angelic backing vocals, the track possesses a striking blend of light and dark aesthetics that are at once catchy and unsettling in equal measure. Indeed, with the lyrics warning that “If you’re gonna get the nest/Then you’re gonna get stung” the harsh electronic buzz of the backing melodies conjures up threatening images. And amid these sinister abstractions, the track swarms over the listener, hooking us in and stinging us with Fogg’s indisputable talent and unique, carefully-crafted sound.

All in all, Stung demonstrates the endless possibilities that can arise from experimenting with music, standing as a stunning example of how the perpetual, unwavering beat of electronic synths can gel remarkably well with the imaginative, freeform qualities of well-written lyrics and illuminating Mr Fogg as less a musician, and more an out-and-out artist.