Foxy Leopard – The Call (2025)
Please note: this article refers to the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in music production. The opinions on AI are individual to this author and do not reflect the opinion of all writers at The Other Side Reviews. Please respect the author’s perspective.
The use of AI in any industry or context is a controversial one. Some people are for it, some people are against it, and some show utter indifference to the issue. For me, well, I’m not all that sure. On one hand, it’s a fantastic tool and showcases the progress of digital production; on the other hand, it can have devastating effects and detrimental consequences. I’m not going to delve into all the issues linked to AI, like loss of originality, loss of work for humans, and the concept of “trickery”. No, I’m looking at AI-generated music with particular focus on Foxy Leopard’s single ‘The Call’.
Technically, Foxy Leopard does not exist with its AI-generated development. It’s not a person, it’s the processing of hundreds of algorithms creating an entity that is merely a construct of numbers, data and stuff like that. Yet, for AI to work, you need a human brain behind the wheel. A human to prompt it, to steer it, and to build the imaginary musician. It is this human element that produces what I find most important in music: the emotion and meaning.
Described as a “different type of production”, ‘The Call’ is a melancholy weave of AI guitars, pedal steel, drums and bass. Yes, it presents the tinniness and detached distortion symptomatic of AI-generated music; yet, one might consider this off-kilter distortion to be perfectly aligned with the theme. Furthermore, the gritty, gruff vocals execute the human-penned lyricism to capture the hardness, vulnerability, and tragedy of the American Civil War. Foxy Leopard shares:
“The American Civil War has always struck me in a way no other war does – not because of strategy or battles, but because of the unbearable truth at its core: slavery. The suffering silence, the stolen lives, these echoes are still here today… rarely even spoken of, but it deserves to be remembered…”
Music is not merely a song to hear or sing along to; it’s an experience rippled with emotion. Songs can give you a comfortable hug, removing feelings of loneliness, or it can be that liberating yell stamping frustration and despair. It’s emotion, and ‘The Call’ is a spark of raw feeling even if it is AI-generated. Isn’t that what matters?
Find out more about Foxy Leopard on its official website, Facebook, YouTube and Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
Listen to more Americana music on The Other Side Reviews Americana playlist:
