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| Not sure. It's rugged and majestic and beautiful, but it strangely doesn't grab my attention. Am I too cynical in thinking "Pretty landscape, so what?"? |
Fleet Foxes sure took a turn for the artsy and interesting. Their self-titled debut and Sun Giant EP in 2008 became so popular that suddenly everyone was doing the 60's hippie-folk thing. But Robin Pecknold and company had much larger ambitions, as their second album Helplessness Blues documented. Lacking another "White winter hymnal" or "Mykonos", and also a bit more lacking the zeitgeist, Fleet Foxes bid mainstream success farewell but kept enjoying critics' high praise. The music was complex and impressive, but with the highs way too high and the lows way too low for it to be suitable as background music on summer evenings in the park (which was how their earlier output was, er, used), I didn't find myself playing it much. Although I did latch on to a couple of the songs at the time, I certainly haven't craved another album of their introspective, grandiose, complex folk-rock in the years since. I didn't really notice that the band took a break. But when "Third of May / Odaigahara" was released last year as the first single from their upcoming new album, I of course had to give it a try. It's a nine minute long multi-part opus, and this time around I was prepared for the right kind of "listening experience". And what an experience. It's a beautiful, emotional, hard-hitting piece, and the production on the track is amazing, but what really made it stand out for me was the live video below, showing both the passion and the sheer skill of Pecknold, guitarist Skye Skjelset and bandmates, where they play the hell out of that huge song in one raw, intimate and energetic take. My faith in Fleet Foxes is again as strong as ever.
And the album did not disappoint. After a few more very strong singles, Crack-Up fulfilled my every expectation and them some. It's been a slow grower, but the whole thing is incredibly beautiful, so every listen is a joy. The vocal harmonies we love are as stunning as ever; the production is incredible throughout, and the soundscapes are rich, warm and full of meticulate detail. The polyrhythms abound and make the music wash over you. It's an immersive experience - surprisingly much so, actually. Aside from "Third of May", most of the songs are 3-4 minutes long and seemingly poppy in format. But even the most verse-chorus-verse-chorus tracks here can hardly be called pop songs. They're full of sudden dynamic shifts and jarring contrasts. But rather than keep you on the edge of your seat, this intensity helps the immersion even more. The 11 tracks on the album also play beautifully as a whole. Many of the most impressive moments are the seamless transitions between the tracks - something Spotify unfortunately messes up slightly. Maybe this is one to consider for my new vinyl player.
Here are some of the thing I enjoy most on the album:
The high harmony that enters at 2:08 of "If you need to, keep time on me", after the little bridge thingy. There's a tonal shift there and then that soaring, lovely line. I look forward to it the whole song.
The Song Exploder episode about "Mearcstapa". It's a great track, but hearing Pecknold talk about how it's built up layer by layer is super intersting. I wouldn't say it increases my appreciation of the track, actually it's almost the opposite, as if a bit of the magic is taken away... but it sure was a fun podcast!
The strange arpeggios in the bridge of "- Naiads, Cassadies". Between the main piano riffs there are these really fast, dissonant couple of arpeggios. They're clearest at 1:53, 1:58, and there's one in a different key at 2:03. They're so cool. The transition from the main section to the bridge is so smooth and pretty, and these weird little jitters add just enough unexpected dissonance to keep you on your toes. Very original and cool effect.
The subtle, but moody and slightly ominous string quartet playing throughout "I should see Memphis" reminds me ever so slightly of Jonny Greenwood's string compositions for film music and on Radiohead songs like "Faust arp" and "Glass eyes". As in these cases, the graceful strings lift the unassuming, gentle acoustic guitar song to great emotional heights in a very different way than the bombastic songs elsewhere on the album.
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| Fleet Foxes back in the day. Say what you will, but they defined an aesthetic. |
I haven't touched much on the lyricry on the album, because frankly I don't really understand it. Pecknold's lyrics are beautiful, but full of deeply buried references. He annotated the lyrics to "Third of May / Odaigahara" on the lyrics website Genius, and it's an interesting read. The song is dedicated to bandmate Skye Skjelset, and former fleet fox Josh Tillman (now performing solo as Father John Misty) tweeted that the song "made me cry honest to god" and that Pecknold is "one in a mill". High praise from the usually cynical and dry-witted superstar, but he's absolutely right.
