Jaxn has returned with his 90’s infused skate and surf inspired single Foolin’ Around, evoking the sounds of Britpop and American radio rock.
The track finds Jaxn bringing together the pop-punk and hip-hop sounds of the time with guitar riffs, bouncy rhythms and hooks. Jaxn co-wrote Foolin’ Around alongside Manchester musician Mattu.
Speaking about the track, Jaxn explains the inspiration landed as he walked through the city, “I was walking through Manchester town centre and heard a guy tell his girlfriend to stop ‘Foolin’ Around’ with loads of emphasis on the ‘ooos’… it made me laugh, so I put the phrase into my notes, not knowing at this stage how and when it would be used. A couple of weeks passed, and I was at my friends playing early 2000s Playstation games, getting our weekly fix of nostalgia: ‘Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater’, ‘No Fear Downhill Mountain Biking’ and ‘SSX’. With those old school games you can spend hours on the loading screen just letting the soundtrack shuffle and along the way discover the coolest shit ever.
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“Feeling inspired I picked up the guitar and began to write an idea I thought would slot nicely into the games’ soundtracks. I then remembered the guy I mentioned earlier, told my mate the story and started singing ‘She’s ‘Foolin’ Around’ and coming up with ways in which your girl might be perceived as Foooolin’ around. That’s how the song was born.”
Foolin’ Around features artwork also inspired by the 90’s era visual aesthetics. The photography was captured on a ’90s camera with images run through an old box television and white noise digitally removed.
image of Jaxn courtesy Jim Senior