Fleet Foxes is only as indie as its album cover
Photo: Courtesy of Creative Commons via 만박.
It has been nearly three years since Fleet Foxes kicked itself into the spotlight. After much delay, the Seattle folkies’ second full-length album, Helplessness Blues, hit stores yesterday. While it’s no radical departure from their first, self-titled album, Helplessness Blues sounds more stunning.
Frontman Robin Peckold gives listeners the supremely crafted folk rock and focus on group vocal harmonies that we’ve come to expect but mixes things up by throwing in new instrumentation. The band’s earthy tones are celestially enhanced upon joining forces with a Marxophone and Arabic-spiced violins. It’s nice to see a band stay afloat with a follow-up album that simply builds on the brilliance of its debut.
The tracks on Helplessness Blues are effortless in the best sense of the word. We see Fleet Foxes extend themselves lyrically, changing to an emphasis on introspection and society. The album gets rolling with a placid “Motezuma”, which makes for a perfect fall-asleep-under-a-willow-tree tune. Eleven more great tracks chase after one another. The not so bluesy title-track has you wondering what you’d do if you had an orchard, while the instrumental bridge (“The Cascades”) leads into a fun, sunny love-song called “Lorelai.” Each song on this album is ideal for a day on the Lakefill or a night of homework.
