Fleet Foxes: Helplessness Blues
There is a moment in the new Fleet Foxes album that, even after several listens, perplexes. I just don't get it. It is an instant, a bizarre twist, which makes me question this new record, Helplessness Blues, as a whole. On track ‘The Shrine/ An Argument’ there has been the choice to include the sound of a clarinet (a prominent instrument throughout this record, especially on track Bedouin Dress) screeching, pushed beyond its soulful best.
So, to put it simply, why? Here are my thoughts. The new Fleet Foxes album, Helplessness Blues, is very much an extension of the sound the band popularised on their self-titled debut album and follow up, the Sun Giant EP. Yet while Helplessness Blues retains that crisp and clean polish that defined, for me and I expect many reading this, the summer of 2008, lead singer Robin Pecknold and crew bring to this album an undercurrent of aggression and deep examination. Don’t think, however, that this record is overtly angry; rather, it carries a sense of potency and eagerness. This is perhaps not surprising when one considers the tumultuous nature in which Fleet Foxes recorded their second album, ditching two sessions worth of material at, allegedly, considerable personal cost. The twelve songs that make Helplessness Blues therefore have a feeling of urgency, as if the band has finally caught lightening and wanted to share the bottle with the world as quickly as possible.
Tracks such as opener ‘Montezuma’ highlight what I feel to be the real accomplishment of Helplessness Blues; the added complexity and depth each song on the album has. We can see this demonstrated in the personal lyrics such as ’Could I wash my hands of just looking out for me?’ and, in the title track, ‘Oh, just tell me what to do.’ The great ‘Sim Sala Bim’ is a highlight, a song which has a feeling of a flowing river, cascading down ever splitting and diverging tributaries (thank you to GCSE geography there), cymbals crashing against the banks till finally the song runs away into the distance to the sound of a 12 string guitar. Like their previous record, this is an album that deserves both your time and attention through multiple listens. I've found that Helplessness Blues sinks into you: slowly, but wonderfully, it seeps into your soul, like musical osmosis. It is unequivocally beautiful yet, somewhat unlike its predecessor, offers some challenges to the listener and it is that which makes this record an ultimately more rewarding experience. So what of ‘The Shrine/ An Argument’ and why the clarinet breakdown? Is it obnoxious? I don’t think so; I think its there to force the ear to listen. So much of Fleet Foxes’ music can wash over you in a gorgeous trance, but here we’re told to wake up and take notice because there’s so much happening on Helplessness Blues and it needs your attention.
---If you like this you may also like: Robin Pecknold’s solo material. Mr. Pecknold released a free three song EP earlier this year and it is great. Hunt it down; it’s well worth your troubles.
Daniel W. Raper
