Depression is a strange beast. You can’t fully beat it, it always comes back, one way or another, sometimes stronger than it was. You know the meme: music changes rhythm, new health bar for the boss. The fight hasn’t finished.

As much as I love snow days and how quiet everything goes, it can get to you. The brightness, the absence of sound, the slushy half melted bits that make you slide down Whitham road. The drudgery of winter takes a toll on your mental health, and by 2012, I was a real mess.

When G2 Studios did their War on Want charity album, Oxo Foxo’s The Hunting Song left a mark on me. I described as mixing longing and anger, and I stand by it. An anger to move on, longing to find a way out. Let’s go hunting.

I eventually managed to interview Oxo Foxo. It was extremely bizarre, off the cuff, but funny Pythonesque style. Saw her live a few times. Once at the Cathedral, where she covered Pete Frampton and got people to dance to a cover of Saturday Night by Whigfield. Then a Christmas gig at The Harley, singing her heart out, and it broke mine to see too many rude people in the crowd chatting and bantering while her introspective set unfurled. Still, her cover of Wham’s last Christmas shut their mouths. Her 2013 Tramlines set was gorgeous, both pastoral and meditative, once again at the cathedral, but not in the main nave.

Whenever depression got the best of me, I would find music that would cheer me up. Not the same song, I had to find some combination that worked and soldier through once I found a couple of cheer me ups. Oxo Foxo’s music has been a silver bullet, though, always gets me on a bright mood. The sun shines a little more that day. The moon smiles more that night.

Although the last release she’s made was almost 9 years ago, I’ve kept in touch with the odd piece of texting or messaging. We recorded a video eating curry in 2018 and although it was an extremely fun time, it’s mostly inside jokes, so no point posting it. Heard back from her in 2023 and she kept checking on me as I spent close to 14 hours at an A&E getting treatment for Bell’s Palsy. Our plans to go for a cider, the one we go for every five years, was bust, but at least we got a few laughs by text message.

I do miss snow, and I do miss listening to Oxo Foxo on a live setting. Her control of sampling pedals and the harmonies from her vocals are gorgeous and that’s why I chose today a live version of The Hunting Song. May she come out of the burrow one day and finally record that foxprog concept album about sandwiches and sex waves from Tokyo.

– Sam J. Valdés López