Standing at the Edge of Fleet Foxes’ Luminous ‘Shore’ (5 Year Anniversary)

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From the first moment the harmonic comet of ‘White Winter Hymnal’ landed in our eardrums, Fleet Foxes have owned their very distinctive space in indie rock. As we are currently in the midst of a folk-country boom, we use the 5th anniversary of the American quintet’s fourth album ‘Shore’ to see how they guided us back to our trees-and-meadows selves.

Journey From the Emerald City

It’s no surprise that the band’s origin story starts in Seattle. The American city of rain and chowder has long been the epicentre of indie rock. It also stands as the birthplace of some of the most influential evolutions in the genre. The fermentation of a counter-cultural, underground 1980s music scene led to the mainstream explosion of a muddy, exciting sound known as “grunge”. Moreover, bands like Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden all rose to become elemental vanguards of the Emerald City. This, in turn, turned Seattle into a moshpit lab of experimental tinkering.

Just as important as the bands were the labels. Amidst the revolution, Sub Pop became the cradle that rocked many of the most important groups in the country. It was founded in 1986 by KCMU radio’s Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. Moreover, Sub Pop was instrumental in developing what they would market as the “Seattle sound”. While that initially meant grunge – the label repped all the above Seattle heavyweights – it shifted to a rock-based soil. This saw the extra fertilisation of punk, hardcore, psychedelic rock, dance, and pop itself. Post-grunge, the label brought other Seattle-based bands like Band of Horses and The Postal Service to the fore. Soon, the label became an umbrella for the alternative music scene throughout the U.S.A. Bands like The Shins, Beach House, and Sleater-Kinney earned much acclaim.   

For all of Sub Pop’s muscle, Fleet Foxes took a slower, much more organic road less travelled. Frontman Robin Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset met in high school and bonded over their fondness for old school artists like Bob Dylan and Neil Young. Cobbling together bandmates that would shift over the years, their rustic rock leanings importantly attracted Phil Ek. Further to this, he was the producer behind influential indie rock bands Built To Spill and Modest Mouse.  

This collaboration began to yield fruit online. Back in 2007, illegal file-sharing and artist sites like Myspace were all the rage. These trends, however, aided the band as their nascent songs garnered a huge cult following. Such was their growing popularity that Sub Pop – by now sold to Warner Music – signed the band on the strength of their potential. The band’s second EP, ‘Sun Giant’, was released in 2008. Displaying a band honing a crisp vocal aesthetic, this would serve as the appetiser for the main course later that year.

A Love For the Hymns and Blues 

Released on June 3, 2008, ‘Fleet Foxes’ burst through the indie rock milieu with a music palette for the ages. The first single, ‘White Winter Hymnal’, showcased what the group would be known for. Not to mention, there were vocal harmonies that met at the intersection of gospel, folk, and the dream-pop stylings of The Beach Boys. The intricate layering of percussion and guitars together casts a spell-binding, pastoral atmosphere. Equally with tracks like ‘Blue Ridge Mountains’ and ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, ‘Fleet Foxes‘ stands as one of the most influential debut albums released this century.

Fleet Foxes would only grow from strength to strength. The band has a gift for building the most impressive musical scaffolding to house their voices. Furthermore, their next two albums would be emblems of this. ‘Helplessness Blues’ impossibly improves on their debut by adding darker, heavier shades to their canvas. Correspondingly, the title track itself was an existential masterpiece. Pecknold took a quiet question on how special any of us really are and turned it into a triumphant resolution of soft-rock euphony. 

Their next work, ‘Crack-Up’, saw Pecknold deconstruct the very personality of Fleet Foxes and their reputation as a musically dense, but generally harmless, genial band. Through searching lyrics like “Was I too slow? Did you change overnight?” in ‘Third of May / Ōdaigahara’, the songs drew from new influences like jazz and blues. Further to this, they used new instruments like a string quartet and a traditional Moroccan percussive qraqeb. Indirectly within their evolving landscape, they were also contending with the presence of other indie-folk artists like Bon Iver and Mumford & Sons. They were no longer the lone hikers gathered around their logs and tents. Additionally, with other bands occupying the same terrain, where could Fleet Foxes go next?

Back to the ‘Shore’

In 2017 – around the time ‘Crack-Up’ was released – Pecknold was surfing when his leash snapped and he got caught underneath the waves. Swimming desperately away from the currents, he managed to escape the ocean. That feeling of landing back on the shore and being this close to death became the impetus behind ‘Shore’.

Released on September 22, 2020, the band’s fourth LP was a surprise in many ways. This was coupled with the album coming out right as the COVID-19 epidemic was ravaging the world. There was no advance warning, even as the release was timed to match the exact start of the autumnal equinox. And after the thick, dusky overtones of their previous two albums, this was indeed a sunny relief. It was like the band, after much philosophical musings and minings, was ready to take a dip back in the bright side. 

The signs were all there in ‘Wading In Waist-High Water’, the mellow opener revealing a spirit of contentment. “And we’re finally aligning / More than maybe I can choose.”, sings the group over calmer waters, with one surging, booming swell re-emphasising the familiar ebbs and flows of their artistic expression. 

‘Shore’ sees the band embracing all the beautiful decor that adorns a typical Fleet Foxes cabin, critics and competition be damned. ‘Can I Believe You’, for one, is a blast from the group’s past. Correspondingly, it’s a special kind of intricate musical composition driven by guitars, pristine harmonies, and delightful surprises. There’s the voice-only start that harkens back to their debut release. In addition to this are lyrical questions that keep us up in the dead of night. “Can I believe you when you say I’m good? / I didn’t need to when I wished you would.” This is the precise examination of the heart that the band has never shied away from. Moreover, that it returns in such a well-loved sheen makes these Fleet Foxes’ edifices such a joy to inhabit.  

In coming to terms with all their proclivities, Fleet Foxes freely pay tribute to all aspects of their past. Additionally, ‘Sunblind’ is a twinkling rock track that gives a sacred nod to those whose shoulders they stand on. Legends like Jimi Hendrix, Bill Withers, and Jeff Buckley are either implicitly or explicitly mentioned in this gorgeous ode to our heroes.

Not only that, but in a re-listen to ‘Shore’, you can hear the fingerprints of The Beach Boys all over the work. Close your eyes, and ‘Featherweight’ has the lightness and choral tightness of a Brian Wilson classic. Brass horns are added to the steady rock tune ‘A Long Way Past the Past’, but it still contains a recognisable nostalgia. All this leads up to ‘Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman’, the album’s shining north star. In his notes, Pecknold writes that the band sampled Wilson’s actual voice used during his recording of ‘Don’t Talk (Put Your Head On My Shoulder)’. The snippet is used from the outset, and the group then nurtures this germ with more horns and galvanic guitars to fashion another complex wonder.

The band’s full-circle reckoning happens in the evocative ‘I’m Not My Season’. One of the simplest songs in the collection, the track shows a mature understanding that neither the Fleet Foxes, nor any one of us are defined by any one point in an evolution. Equally important, alone with a simple guitar and some reverb, Pecknold triumphantly tells himself (and us) that “Well time’s not what I belong to / And I’m not the season I’m in.”. Given that this song coincided with a worldwide pandemic, it was a spot where wisdom and escapism could mesh. 

Let it be known that Fleet Foxes did not invent folk-rock. But their use of the sound as a potent ingredient has definitely permeated alternative music. Over the last few years, the twangs and thrums of folk can be found in so much of what’s out. A wide spectrum of groups, from indie music powerhouses Big Thief and Wednesday to artists du jour like Folk Bitch Trio and Waxahatchee, have adopted folk music motifs for their newest releases. 

And don’t look now, but Fleet Foxes may be gradually coming out of hibernation. Quiet for years, they have recently partnered with Madison Cunningham for ‘Wake’. This is a ballad listed as part of her upcoming new album. If Pecknold and company are ready for a re-entrance, a whole new generation of indie music fans will be awaiting the latest chapter of an already epic campfire tale.  

Fleet Foxes are on Instagram. Stream the album below or buy it here, and read more anniversary pieces here.

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