Fleet Foxes’ “Shore” – Album Review
It’s been three years since Fleet Foxes released Crack-Up, which could’ve been the group’s concluding LP release. At the time, lead vocalist, guitarist, and songwriter Robin Pecknold had returned from a six year hiatus. During which, Pecknold ventured into the woods of his native state, Washington, and even attended university as he tried to figure out his life. The subject matter of Crack-Up was filled with a paradoxical showcasing of emotions, hope, and existential nausea that morphed into a sophisticated album. The 2017 release veered away from the previous self-titled LP, the success of which got Fleet Foxes serious recognition. As for the reception of the 2017 album, it received universal acclaim from critics who also acknowledged that it must’ve been a challenge to make.
Fast forward to this week, we now have a release similar to Crack-Up in its evolved composition: Shore. Pecknold called it “Crack-Up’s friendly brother,” likely reflecting on how Crack-Up was something of a purge, and how listeners noticed that delicate state. Is Shore its brother’s keeper? For one thing, it’s definitely more accessible.
Finding gratitude for his late music idols during the quarantine, Pecknold thought up the words as he drove on a regular basis from his New York City apartment to the Catskill mountains. In a time when death burdens the world’s shoulders, Pecknold celebrates the lives of Elliott Smith, Judee Sill, Curtis Mayfield, Richard Swift, and Jimi Hendrix, and more. Pecknold was troubled by the contrast in the optimistic music against the “downer” lyrics he found, and considered the possibility that music wasn’t important right now. It’s upsetting to realize that ideas like this can be disenchanting, even self-destructive– I’ve doubted the practicality of my own path as well. Sure, musicians can’t help fight the coronavirus, but art must exist nonetheless. I’m glad that this album finally came to be, as it gives people a considerably substantial piece of art to enrich their own lives amid all the doom-and-gloom.
When I say accessible, I mean that I anticipate an appeal to a wider audience– similar to Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut. Its accessibility is not to say that Crack-Up was too much for me to handle, and that Shore has a lighter subject matter. Not at all. It appears that since 2017, they’ve walked those ideas toward a conclusion. The new album makes clear that Fleet Foxes have grown a lot, and also retained what makes them unique.
Behind Pecknold’s tenor vocals are still the harmonies of all its members, as they’ve always been a quintet group, along with inspired folk instrumentals. In Shore, I still got Pecknold’s talented acoustic and electric guitars, the keys, percussion, and creative strings that I’ve come to know and love from Fleet Foxes. With a patient progression and harmonies, “Wading” is the first song, with vocals done by Uwade Akhere. It sounds like the band’s very own autumn hymnal (coincidentally arriving on the fall equinox). The song seamlessly transitions to “Sunblind,” where Pecknold’s musical tribute resides (along with “Jara,” about the Chilean folk singer Victor Jara).
The tracks vary in a medley of expression, ambiance, and pacing. “A Long Way Past the Past” is nostalgic yet hopeful with an aid in brass from the Westerlies, where “Can I Believe You” goes much harder with its chorus, and the conclusive “Shore” which represents a brief respite in safety (that is, family and heroes) before floating off into the future. In this context, the album seems to be about embracing the future — in the wake of Crack-Up. This final song was inspired by a terrifying surfing accident in which Pecknold doubted his survival out in the water, and swam to shore for fifteen straight minutes.
All told, the album exhibits a style that both spelunks the hardened visions of its successors and crystallizes its own, entirely new, folk rock. After all, Pecknold believes this music inhabits both the past and present. Forgive my Generation-Z lingo, but I can easily vibe with the second half of this LP’s mellow tracks. These are “Thymia” and “Going-to-the-sun Road.” Preferably consumed in lowlight after sunset, feel the waist-high water.
Album rating: 9/10
Article by: Justin Capra