{"id":6129,"date":"2022-01-06T03:34:17","date_gmt":"2022-01-06T03:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/?p=6129"},"modified":"2022-01-06T03:34:18","modified_gmt":"2022-01-06T03:34:18","slug":"spotlight-on-2022-grammy-nominated-best-alternative-music-album-fleet-foxes-shore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/2022\/01\/spotlight-on-2022-grammy-nominated-best-alternative-music-album-fleet-foxes-shore\/","title":{"rendered":"Spotlight on 2022 Grammy Nominated Best Alternative Music Album: Fleet Foxes \u201cShore\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The long-awaited comeback album from these pioneers of the early 2000\u2019s American indie rock syndicate is here, and nominated for a grammy nonetheless.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a kid growing up in the early 2000s, the sounds of The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie were omnipresent in the car rides of my youth. Among these contemporaries, the light yet lugubrious sounds of the Seattle-based band Fleet Foxes radiated warmth through the radio. Yet no album released by them thus far has epitomized or accurately captured amber colored gratitude or good-vibes quite like Shore<\/em> with signature style and grace. <\/em>This is a feat various bands and artists in the genre grasp at, but few can hold onto for long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since their primordial conception, the band has been noted for their mellifluous harmonies, distinctive earthy-folk guitar and mature lyricism. Lead singer Robin Pecknold and guitarist Skyler Skjelset bonded in high school over a mutual love of Bob Dylan and Neil Young. The two began making music shortly after, originally performing under the name \u201cThe Pineapples.\u201d Soon discovered by a Seattle producer who assisted the recording of their first demo, the self-titled self-released Fleet Foxes <\/em>would become their first full-length album in 2008. <\/em>The band garnered a considerable amount of popularity by the year 2007, attracting more than a quarter million listens in the Myspace circuit. This attention helped secure a record deal with Sub Pop in 2008, releasing their second EP, Sun Giant<\/em>. From the start they were well received by critics, their first album was praised and touted as \u201can instant classic\u201d by venerable media outlets like The Guardian<\/em>.<\/em> That same year, Fleet Foxes<\/em> went no.1 on the CMJ Radio 200 Chart and was ranked album of the year by Billboard\u2019s Critic\u2019s Choice. The band was immensely successful in Europe and beyond, selling out music venues in Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. Their second album, Helplessness Blues, <\/em>moved away from pop friendly melodies and took an overarching less upbeat turn. The album secured a Grammy nomination for Best Folk Album in 2012, preceding a brief hiatus taken by Pecknold from 2012-2016 as he pursued an undergraduate degree at Columbia. In 2016, the bands third studio album Crack-Up <\/em>was released, perhaps their most ambitious album with the average song clocking in at 5 minutes, it signaled an increasing complexity of their sound and depth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shore <\/em>stays true to form, transforming Pecknold\u2019s prototypical anxiety and existential grievances into tracks that soar, with the same musical ingenuity and unique fusion similar to that of Dave Matthews or Bj\u00f6rk. The difference perhaps is how prevalently Pecknold continues a conversation with listeners and himself, posited by albums of the past. The beauty on Shore <\/em>never falters, it feels like the model marriage between the complexity of Crack-Up <\/em>and pleasant youthful urgency of Fleet Foxes. <\/em>The first song on the album, \u201cWading in Waist-High Water ” taps the voice of Uwade Akhere, an unknown singer Pecknold began collaborating with after coming across a clip of her singing one of their hit songs, \u201cMykonos.\u201d This is one of many new collaborations Pecknold featured on the album, alongside Grizzly Bear\u2019s members Christopher Bear (drummer) and Daniel Rossen (co-lead vocalist), drummers Homer Steinweiss (The Dap-Kings) and Joshua Jaeger (collaborates with Angel Olsen). In Shore\u2019s <\/em>artist statement, Pecknold states that \u201cthe studio albums have always been predominantly my work and my vision; I\u2019ve always handled all the songwriting, most of the vocals and harmonies, and most of the recording of the instrumentation.\u201d This explains the noteworthy absence of the bands other four members – Skyler Skjelset, Morgan Henderson, Casey Wescott and Christian Wargo – alluding to their role more as tourmates than anything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first song Pecknold sings is the track followed by the former, effortlessly transitioning into \u201cSunblind.\u201d He declaims the names of departed musical heroes, showcasing glistening gratitude, \u201cFor Richard Swift\u2026I\u2019m overmatched (for Arthur Russel).\u201d The chorus then bursts into light commemoration: \u201cI\u2019m going out for a weekend\/I\u2019m gonna borrow a Martin or Gibson\u2019 With Either\/Or and The Hex for my Bookends.\u201d Among the references to Simon and Garfunkel and Eliott Smith, another one of Pecknold\u2019s musical inspirations, Silver Jews album Warm American Water <\/em>joins the choral repetition. According to an interview Pecknold gave to Rolling Stone<\/em> <\/em>\u201cThat chorus is saying I\u2019m going to live as best I can, in thanks to these people, because they can\u2019t, or they couldn\u2019t. It\u2019s zeroing in this idea of gratitude just to be alive. I\u2019m so lucky.\u201d That feeling of gratitude is pervasive throughout Shore, <\/em>a loving epistle to the music and artists that moved him; filled with contentment for living life, when so many have been lost these past two years; as well as gorgeous musings about the duality of life and death, and what awaits those who have to cope. This is succeeded by the \u2018Heart of Gold\u2019-esque pursuit of love and inquiry into the complicated nature of trust on \u201cCan I Believe You.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the songs which directly engages with the evocative political unrest in 2020 is the synthesized staccato track \u201cJara.\u201d Pecknold uses the Chilean protest singer Victor Jara as a vehicle to explore the manifestations of injustice he perceived around him. He wrote the song with those tackling activism against racism and oppression in mind, equating them to personal Victor Jara\u2019s all around him. Following the bright murmurs of \u201cJara\u201d enters the first minor-key track on the album, \u201cFeatherweight.\u201d This showcases a commonality on Shore, <\/em>the reflections and ruminations of an older, wiser Pecknold. He is on the journey of self-acceptance & self-reliance, shedding the ideals, Snows of Mount Kilimanjaro-esque creative anxieties and naivety of his youth: \u201cAll this time I\u2019ve been hanging on\/ To an edge I caught when we both were young.\u201d Addressing the tumultuous political climate of 2020 once more, he feels a degree of optimism: \u201cFeel some change in the weather\/ I couldn\u2019t, though I\u2019m beginning to.\u201d In the end, \u201cOne warm day is all I really need\u201d, a somewhat contradictory statement in the overarching narrative presented to us, considering the following track, sunny and riddled with nostalgia,  \u201cA Long Way Past the Past\u201d ends with an uncertain \u201cI\u2019ll be better off in a year or in two.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor a Week or Two\u201d is perhaps the album’s most tranquil track, evoking stunning yet simple imagery of the lightness and peace one feels when close to nature in solitude, simply existing – que birds chirping. \u201cMaestranza\u201d has a playful, layered instrumental palette including diminished chords among the varied progressions that teeter between major and minor. Continuing to lean into the motif of hope, the song brightly encourages optimism and yearns for change from the era when \u201cCon-men controlled my fate.\u201d In an interview with Entertainment Weekly<\/em> Pecknold said \u201cIt\u2019s trying to be an encouraging song, because the last few years, it\u2019s been kind of a con man\u2019s era. There\u2019s been a lot of people trying to pull the wool over our eyes, not just in politics but also technology and media. Maybe we\u2019re going to be entering this era where that\u2019s no longer the case.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps the most radiant rockin moment on the album, \u201cYoung Man’s Game\u201d is the exhale to Pecknold\u2019s tight-chested inhale over the past decade, highlighted on previous tracks such as \u201cFool’s Errand\u201d (Crack-Up) <\/em>where Pecknold laments his ultimate universal insignificance with an ironically upbeat melody as if to signal acceptance of this reality; while simultaneously recognizing attempts to change this would end in futile frustration. \u201cYoung Man\u2019s Game\u201d offers a more critical yet light response to these queries of his youth. Glad he\u2019s matured past immature delusions and the trappings of a \u2018young man\u2019s game\u2019: \u201cI could dress as Arthur Lee\u2026Maybe read Ulysses\/ But it\u2019s a young man\u2019s game\u2026I could worry through each night\/Find something unique to say\/I could pass as erudite\/But it\u2019s a young man\u2019s game.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m Not My Season\u201d posits the dichotomy between summer and winter, and the experiences those two seasons encompass as a means for exploring the essence of time, relationships and the ephemerality of beauty: \u201cThough I liked summer light on you\/If we ride a winter-long wind\/Well time\u2019s not what I belong to\/And I\u2019m not the season I\u2019m in.\u201d The lyrics take a back seat in \u201cQuiet Air\/Gioia”, the song is embroidered with layers of instrumentation, glossy harmonies and a strong bass riff that take center stage. It induces a kind of ambient, rave-like stupor. The melodic composition in \u201cGoing-to-the-Sun-Road\u201d evokes rolling, sumptuous, verdant greenery you would see peering out the window with open road in front of you. The Sun Road is a seasonal 60-mile stretch of road in Montana, a metaphor for that last adventure you strive towards after all the rest are done. Pecknold extended the original running time of the song to include a Portuguese verse from Brazilian singer Tim Bernardes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThymia ” concentrates on the most personal aspect of Shore,<\/em> the love affair between Pecknold and music. Driving around, we hear the music in a \u201cPair of tin cups rolling in the backseat\/Rustle like a mallet on a downbeat.\u201d Pecknold is able to find the music in everything, carrying this intangible sixth sense within that grounds him, a watermark throughout time that is obvious in his musical trajectory: \u201cSolid shape of, known it for a long time\/Never failed us, even losing daylight.\u201d Pecknold\u2019s grand finale, \u201cCradling Mother, Cradling Woman\u201d is a battle of horns, strings, pianos and guitars competing with each other’s individual rhythms, ultimately creating a cathartic symphony of chaos with gorgeous lyricism to boot. Inspired by Brian Wilson, Pecknold sampled his voice on this track from \u2018Don\u2019t Talk (Put Your Head on My Shoulder)\u2019, claiming<\/a> \u201cAs a teenager, I would listen to this clip for hours on end, amazed at what you were building with just your voice. This clip, more than any other piece of music, completely changed and guided my life.\u201d The final track is the albums namesake, which is only fitting as \u201cShore\u201d ties up any loose ends in the overall conversation, punctuating Pecknold\u2019s exploration of gratitude which looms large over Shore. <\/em>The violent and calm duality of the sea is Pecknold\u2019s inspiration, drawing upon the metaphor to showcase the fluidity of the times, with comfort and uncertainty. \u201cThis song is expressing gratitude towards my family and friends and heroes for everything that they\u2019ve given me as a person. And then back in the water, the music goes to this really wild place where the syllables of every word are pulling apart from each other. There\u2019s chaos beneath the sea and then you rise back up and you\u2019re floating on calm water.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Shore <\/em>exemplifies the highest quality \u2018sign of the times\u2019 art one would expect to emerge from an unparalleled time of tragedy and uncertainty such as the past two years. It tackles the issues of our time with lyrical finesse and a sound which ascends above it all, providing the lofty look back into this time and ourselves that we needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The long-awaited comeback album from these pioneers of the early 2000\u2019s American indie rock syndicate is here, and nominated for a grammy nonetheless. As a kid growing up in the early 2000s, the sounds of The Shins and Death Cab For Cutie were omnipresent in the car rides of my youth. Among these contemporaries, the light yet lugubrious sounds of the Seattle-based band Fleet Foxes radiated warmth through the radio. Yet no album released by<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":249,"featured_media":6130,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[319,318,321],"tags":[],"coauthors":[366],"class_list":["post-6129","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts","category-news","category-opinion"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Fleet-Foxes-Shore-Art.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/249"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6129"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6131,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6129\/revisions\/6131"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6129"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6129"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6129"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fieldstonnews.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=6129"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}