Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes // Buy

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The new Fleet Foxes’ (@fleetfoxes) album, Helplessness Blues, has plenty of warranted hype surrounding its official release.  The band garnered an incredible amount of attention in 2008 for their well-crafted brand of psych folk, drawing interest to their lush harmonies and lead singer Robin Pecknold’s Jim James-esq vocals.

While “White Winter Hymnal” is the single that launched the band’s career, their deep reservoir of musical talent was what truly sustained them and propelled them through multiple headlining tours and big festival slots in the years to follow.  Drummer Joshua Tillman is a solo artist in his own right, specializing in a slow, haunted folk style. Keyboardist Casey Wescott and Bassist Christian Wargo are both seasoned Seattle music scene veterans, having released records on noted indie label Suicide Squeeze records as part of the Crystal Skulls.  They even added another member, Seattle’s Morgan Henderson, for upcoming tours to help augment their already blazing live shows.

When a band enjoys such colossal success on their first release, expectations are generally very high for the follow-up attempt, and I’m happy to report that the boys have overcome the sophomore slump syndrome. Continuing on the path that they began with the last album, Helplessness Blues veers away from traditional verse-chorus-verse song structure without letting the songs venture out too far into left field.  Acting as a vehicle for the songwriting of Pecknold, (there are 2 solo guitar/vocal songs, and one short, all-instrumental song entitled “The Cascades”), the album feels like a logical next step for a group attempting to find their own personality within a stylistic context.

Keeping in line with the last records’ ear for subtle production cues, the addition of some distinct string playing is first heard in the second cut, “Bedouin Dress”, a straightforward, feel-good track that serves as a good follow up to the opener “Montezuma”, which is mainly Pecknold and a guitar. “The Shrine/An Argument” is probably the most adventurous song to date in the Fleet Foxes repertoire.  At eight minutes in length, it’s their longest song on tape, going from an intimate introduction of only vocals and guitar to a full band workout that ends with saxophones blowing free improvisation over haunting strings.

“Battery Kinzie”, equipped with tambourines and booming tom toms, almost sounds like a forgotten Brian Wilson song. Tracks such as this continually give Fleet Foxes’ music a sense of atmosphere and primalness. That desire to maintain a raw nature to their material is truly what keeps their music interesting.

The title Helplessness Blues seemed a bit intimidating to me at first.  I was anticipating very heavy subject matter with a general sense of darkness. Though the album does cover some somber material, the band keeps the music’s feel relatively upbeat and revitalizing. The tracks are more so a collection of narrative stories and personal experiences about their place in the world, their family, and their friends.