After a long period of time, the new Fleet Foxes have arrived. Of course, like all highly anticipated albums, this one leaked long ago. To give a short summary of the album, if you enjoyed their first album, you’ll enjoy the second. “Helplessness Blues” is an effective follow-up to their first blockbuster album. I’d be surprised if this one does worse, I think it is roughly as good, no better no worse. For those who were expecting a dramatic change of pace, no. Bearded weirdoes living in the forest aren’t exactly the people to look to for change unless that change involves protecting Middle Earth from the forces of darkness.
People seem to be into this one a little less than the first. Timing seems to have played a part. When their first album came out, it came out in the dearth of 2008. For me, 2008 was not a great year in music. Usually I can list off the albums I really enjoyed for each year, but for that one nothing comes to mind besides No Age. Compared to all the mediocrity strewn about for that year, Fleet Foxes came out as a breath of fresh air.
2009 changed everything, including 2011 oddly. All those bands sitting on their laurels during 2010 came out (Neon Indian and Washed Out). There are just so many highly anticipated releases from other artists Fleet Foxes gets lost in the shuffle. Mesh that with the inherently easy-going non-offensive nature of the music and you can understand why there’s been a bit less attention paid.
Fleet Foxes may be the indie answer to James Taylor. At times I hear stuff so positively likable I desire to put on anything edgier. A lack of edge is their selling point, but I usually need a bit of something dark to keep me interested. By editing out anything dark I sort of long for something evil. If this is blues, I don’t enough if I could handle them happy. Perhaps years from now they’ll become a vaguely ironic Karaoke pick as drunken fools sing about the “Blue Ridge Mountains”. Having such likability isn’t a bad thing; it just can get a bit much as times. Personally, I’m digging the new album.
Vocals are strong throughout the album, angelic almost. Each arrangement shows the tenderness and care. Considering all the electronic stuff milling around, they will at least manage to attract a few struggling with the deluge of artificial sound. Guitars sound natural. Raw emotion is untreated. Passion can be felt in each little twang, every small, low-key strum. Brushes of the drums work too in creating something more organic and fluid. Reasons like this are how they will manage to get an audience.
Sometimes I think timing is everything with critical reviews. As I listen to their album, I feel they might have done better in 2004-2005. By now the taste isn’t favoring them in any ways. Large bands that did what Fleet Foxes do now, with ornate lyrics and complicated arrangements, have fallen hard. In that era, Fleet Foxes might have been a bigger success than it is now. Perhaps if the audience was more in tune or more accepting of the sound Fleet Foxes might have been ever more of a critical darling (though they are still beloved by anyone’s standards).
Basically, check out their album. Though there aren’t any real detours or surprises, excluding longer track lengths, it can be nice to sit out with a band knowing exactly what is coming. Having standards and expectations met is certainly no bad thing, considering how many sophomore albums miss the mark (Hercules and the Love Affairs, MGMT, etc.). Consider Helplessness Blues your spring album, preparing you for growth and sunshine.