(Still after all these years, stunning)
This album starts off with “I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar”. It’s a very quiet intro, which certainly isn’t a bad thing. It’s actually seriously haunting considering the very sunny intros I’ve been used to hearing from the band. Robin sounds so hurt in his performance, and the strings and bizarre background bizarre background vocals that pop in add tons as well. Shortly after, the rest of the band pops in with everything from angelic vocal harmonies and wonderfully sweet instrumentals. “I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar” is beautiful, containing elements of Progressive Folk as well as some Indie Rock as well. Now that the ball is rolling, this track gets truly stunning and joyous, with little details like the bells in the background that give this all such a wonderful and vast sound. I feel like as far as the group’s harmonies go, they’ve come even closer to perfection. They’ve always been a major selling point in Fleet Foxes music as far as I’m concerned, but this is seriously next level here. Not to mention, the inclusion of the strings makes this one of the more epic Fleet Foxes tracks I’ve heard. “I Am All That I Need / Arroyo Seco / Thumbprint Scar” is a stunning intro. Up next is the slightly less graceful “Cassius, –“. There’s a strange sort of drone going on in the background here that I’m not entirely sure how I feel about. As far as the harmonies go however, they show up in spades, which is to be expected. But to be honest I’m really not feeling this instrumental as much. However, there are plenty of elements to “Cassius, –“ that I do enjoy though, like that drum roll that comes off pretty intense as well as some of the vocal explosions after the relatively quiet verses. But Fleet Foxes sort of drop the ball by continuing to revert to this sort of bizarre Drone Folk which I feel like the world isn’t ready for just yet boys. However, like I said, “Cassius, –“ certainly does have it’s moments, like the strings that pop in at the end that are truly breathtaking. Fleet Foxes rebound nicely however with “Naiads, Cassadies”. This one is much more on the quiet side like the previous track, but this is done so much more enchantingly and comes off truly lovable. Robin’s performance here shines as some of the other band member take a backseat as far as harmonies go (at least for the most part). There are some seriously incredible moments on “Naiads, Cassadies”, like the pianos that come in over the strings and end up giving this track such a vast feel to it. My only real issue with this one is that it maybe could have been a little catchier, as most of the tracks on “Helplessness Blues” were. But outside of that, “Naiads, Cassadies” is beautiful. Then we have the truly unbelievable “Kept Woman”, one of my favorite tracks here by far. The track has just such a stark, stunning intro, and Robin sounds absolutely incredible. I love the combination of his vocals as well as the pianos behind him, while the usual vocal harmonies slowly warm up behind him. As far as a true Fleet Foxes sound goes, this is the closest thing we’ve heard yet. There’s almost a little darkness here, sort of what showed up on “Helplessness Blues”. It’s a fantastic sound for them though, and shows just how versatile Fleet Foxes can be, to take a truly breathtaking sound and bring in the slight sense of possible danger. The harmonies on “Kept Woman” are on point, the instrumentals are beautiful, so far this album has been absolutely worth the wait.
As this album rolls on, I feel like it just keeps getting better and better. Up next is the lead single from this massive album, “Third of May / Ōdaigahara”. This is easily the most straightforward track here. I love the imagery on this one within Robin’s lyrics, but they’re made even stronger by this incredibly vast atmosphere that I can’t get enough of. Once again, there’s almost a very Progressive feel to this all, but that’s just fine by me, as it’s something Fleet Foxes have toyed with for years and are able to pull off. But let’s talk about some of the later moments of “Third of May / Ōdaigahara”. We’re once again dealt with obviously stunning instrumentals. But they’re followed by tons of very sinister sounding strings in the background. Like I said earlier, this is something that we certainly got a taste of on “Helplessness Blues”, and not so shockingly, it still comes off absolutely epic and grand. Then we have Robin’s lyrics, which have always had such a sense of longing to them. But this is a new level of longing, as Robin belts out “If I lead you through the fury, will you call to me?”. “Third of May / Ōdaigahara” is wonderful from start to finish. Even though we’re dealing with a 9 minute folk epic, there isn’t a dull moment. Even the last 2 minutes or so of instrumentals are just as engaging. Now as far as a straightforward folk track on this album goes, look no further than “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me”. To be honest though, it’s almost too straightforward to the point of it being a fault of the track. I love plenty of this track and all, from the beautiful vocals to the sweet and endearing lyrics. But outside of that, I’m so used to hearing much more epic instrumentals from Feel Foxes. “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me” isn’t bad at all, it’s actually seriously lovely. But I just don’t really feel like it fits this album. But hell, even when Fleet Foxes are at their most tame, they remain one of the most concrete and wonderful folk collectives around. Fleet Foxes do quickly get back on track with “Mearcstapa”. I feel like in a lot of ways, this is sort of along the lines of what Bon Iver were doing on their last album, there are some seriously experimental moments on this one. But it’s still incredibly warm and inviting. I love the very warm instrumentals among the quite frankly hulking atmosphere. It’s an incredibly vivid atmosphere though, like you can certainly tell that something is very wrong, but you can’t tell what. But man, is it ever overwhelming and seriously beautiful. “Mearcstapa” sees the return of some of the more Progressive elements are back which is always a plus. And seriously, can we just talk about some of the little details here? Some of the small and meticulous details here are absolute perfect, from the plucked guitars on the chorus to the sweeping string section. It ends up giving “Mearcstapa” a seriously gigantic sound. “On Another Ocean (January / June)” continues on with this much more quiet sound, and here we get some seriously nice vocal solos from Robin. Obviously, these solos are seriously stunning. But here, the instrumentals don’t hit me nearly as hard, so much so that I really don’t get caught up in this at all. “On Another Ocean (January / June)” has all the tools to be as good as any of the other tracks here, but the way it’s presented is seriously a little sloppy. However, halfway through the track, Fleet Foxes do turn this around in a big way and end up sounding much more cohesive. The second half of “On Another Ocean (January / June)” I can totally get into. The instrumentals are just as broad and meticulously crated, and Robin among this environment sounds absolutely stunning. I really just wish I could have sunk my teeth in more to those first two minutes.
Fleet Foxes aren’t done with us yet. “Fools Errand” right off the bat is just so warm and inviting, with almost a strange groove. When Fleet Foxes get their sound out right, I always feel like I’m wrapped in some big fuzzy blanket in a cabin in the middle of the winter. Honestly, that’s what I’ve always looked for in folk music, and it’s why I love Fleet Foxes as much as I do. Then, we have the vocals on “Fool’s Errand”, which as stunning as they get, it’s clear that there is just so much pain in them. There’s always so much heartache in the music of Fleet Foxes, and it translates to their music so wonderfully. I love the continued groove as well, it shows that Fleet Foxes can just as easily carry a sort of more upbeat track. “Fools Errand” quite frankly is stunning. “I Should See Memphis” is up next. While this track is softer and more subtle, the different instrumentals fluttering just out of reach are seriously exciting and beautiful. As far as instrumentals go, this album is clearly Fleet Foxes biggest venture yet. While “ I Should See Memphis” isn’t as absolutely jaw dropping as earlier moments, it still packs one hell of a punch. Sadly though, the second half of this one does get a little bit underwhelming. It’s still a solid tune and all, but structure wise it’s a little off kilter. But like other tracks here, there’s still plenty to like about this one. Not to mention, the last minute here of Robin’s voice distorted by noise and sound effects is seriously chilling. Which leads us to this album’s finale, “Crack-Up”. For the most part, this is pretty straightforward for Fleet Foxes, with nothing too progressive really going on. But to be honest, this has been such eventful and stunning album that I’m totally fine with this. One thing about this finale that does wow me however, are the harmonies, which Fleet Foxes have clearly saved some of their most powerful for last. Plus, I love some of the smaller details here, those horns are a seriously nice addition boys. All around, Vocal-Wise “Crack-Up” is to die for, and while this track is probably the least busy here, I think they did a wonderful job rounding off this album. As this track continues on however, and when I feel like Fleet Foxes are sort of winding down, things get pretty big and epic quickly. It’s an absolutely beautiful ending, down to the very last detail.
Rating: 8.5/10
Give A Listen To: "Hardware", "Matter Of Time", "Streets Dept", "The City"
Overall Thoughts: Now, there may be one or two slight more hiccups than "Helplessness Blues", but after all of these years this album is seriously still something special. This is by far the most instrumentally diverse and atmospheric Fleet Foxes to date. All of the classic elements are all here, with warm melodies and angelic harmonies. There are a few moments like I said that are a little too out there for my liking, but overall this is just another truly stunning album from Fleet Foxes.
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