Fleet Foxes - Shore
Genre: Indie-Folk
Score: 9/10
Following up 2017’s Crack Up, I’m just expecting Fleet Foxes to do their thing and drop one more genre defying indie folk album as they usually do. Truthfully, this also dropped out of the blue on Tuesday 9/22 so a part of me isn’t really sure what to expect. Overall: This album has a great flow and a very emotionally potent vibe. It’s the soundtrack to an early sunrise socially distancing hike on a crisp fall morning.
Play by Play:
1. Wading In Waist-High Water – Pretty atmospheric kickoff, sets the tone for the rest of the album really well. Feels like I’m driving thru the forest after an early morning hike and I’m seeing the sunset. But it’s kind of a sad drive.
2. Sunblind – Smooth transition in. Production is fire. Great space in instrumentation and everything sounds cleaner than a fresh hairline. Classic Fleet Foxes songwriting full of momentum and grand instrumentation. Shoutout to all of his influences that he echoes in the verses (all of whom you should also listen to).
3. Can I Believe You – Emotionally compelling instrumentation. Robert sounds dejected and untrustworthy due to past heartbreak. There’s great use of reverb to create a distant atmosphere that sounds bigger than the band itself. The harmonies on this album are TO DIE for thus far. Apparently, it’s 400 or 500 people singing in a chorus? Wtf?
4. Jara – Love the production on this. Jara references Victor Jara, the Chilean folk hero killed under Pinochet’s regime. A fitting tribute, given that the classic folky vibe and lyrics read as lamenting his own survivors guilt, having not been under intense oppression as Jara (at least to me)
5. Featherweight – Minor chords sound NICE. Great change of mood from the heavenly vibe presented so far. Reminds me of an edgier Simon & Garfunkel. I also love the piano runs at the end. Very catchy single despite its dreary chord progression.
6. A Long Way Past the Past – A nice song of self-realization and learning from past mistakes. A very solitary vibe, but comfortable in its solitude. Whoever mixed and mastered this deserves a present of their choice.
7. For a Week or Two – A very soft cooldown with a pulsating quiet kick line guiding the pace of the song, touched with lovely vocal harmonies. Simple pianos, a paced guitar, and a painful cliffhanger of an ending leave me just wanting more.
8. Maestranza – Grooviest track on the album. I’m picking up a Michael McDonald influence on this one. Very relatable lyrics highlighting an extended period of solitude. At this point I’m slightly worried for the band’s emotional well-being.
9. Young Man’s Game – Swinging intro. I’m picking up 2000s indie heavyhitters like Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse as opposed to more folkier sounds, which brings a nice variety to the album.
10. I’m Not my Season – I’m in my feelings listening to this, not gonna lie. That hook hits like a brick. Pacing is a classic Fleet Foxes slow burner.
11. Quiet Air/Gioia – Groovy and grounded in instrumentation, despite its distant lyrics. Despite how soft everything is, the groove is tense and I love it.
12. Going-To-the-Sun Road – Warm horns, fantastic vocal harmonies, warm harpsichord? The song sounds like the nicest drive I’ve ever taken in the early morning sunrise. When the vocalist starts singing in French, I hear an icier Stereolab and I’m captivated.
13. Thymia – God the vocal harmonies just don’t LET UP. The slowly paced interlude sets up the final leg of the album really well.
14. Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman – Holy fuck, the layers on this track. Just all of the instrumental layers blended into the smoothest mix ever. Each instrument is mixed so well and each part is so driving and groovy and complements each other. This song is the closest to transcending that Fleet Foxes approaches on this album, and is no doubt my favorite song on the record. You’re not bugging calling this song an eargasm (at least in casual settings).
15. Shore – Just a damn near tear inducing ending to an incredibly produced album. A slowburner of a track with a fantastic payoff that’s worth every second.
Score: 9/10
Favorite Track in Bold
Just my opinion