“How Can You Really” marks the first of what will likely be many singles off Foxygen’s upcoming album, …And Star Power, which contains a whopping 24 tracks. As a follow-up to their 2013 album, We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors of Peace & Magic, Foxygen promise to deliver “a svelte 82-minute run time of psych-ward folk, cartoon fantasia, soft-rock indulgences, D&D doom rock, and paranoid bathroom rompers.”
“How Can You Really” slips off all those proposed quirky adjective hooks. The Billy Joel-esque piano jangle, playful trumpets, and lo-fi, breathy vocals meld into a glam-rock/pop song that brings Foxygen into the realm of the accessible. Foxygen fans of yore who dig their psych rock sound collages might be tempted to write the song off as feeling borrowed without necessarily feeling new. Whether you’re thinking about jumping off the Foxygen ship or just now getting on board, take this song as a token of Foxygen’s great musical range…and star power.