Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues Review

Confronting head-on the onset of second-album syndrome, the critically acclaimed Seattle sextet have returned to once again woo us with their luscious vocal harmonies, gentle guitar and lyrical eloquence.  Helplessness Blues is unquestionably a Fleet Foxes album - their base sound has changed only in the use of more layered instrumentation - however it develops the simplistic joy of their debut into something marvellous - a mature, multifaceted ecstasy that unstoppably wells up inside you as you listen.  The title track and debut single is a simplistic celebration of ’serving something beyond me’ and is compellingly, unashamedly earnest in its values.  Grown Ocean is a self-propelling four-and-a-half minutes of euphoria, Pecknold’s voice rising purer than ever over the background layers.   ‘I’ll be so happy just to have spoken’ he sings, and it is this which defines the album - the record seems to hum with the band’s happiness; their joy seems to permeate every song.  Even when the lyrics are pensive, sad or self-depreciating the tone remains upbeat.    It’s this kind of music that stays with you for life.

Thirty Days of Music Day 30 - Your Favourite Song This Time Last Year

I was a latecomer to the Fleet Foxes bandwagon, but I'm still riding it today.  Their first album was a serious contender for my favourite album of all time - it is one of the most consistently brilliant albums I have ever heard and it pretty much defined the boundaries of indie-folk.  Blue Ridge Mountains is my favourite song of theirs.

Starting off with the characteristic Foxes harmonies, it soon moves onto guitar and wonderfully crafted melody.  Pecknold's vocals are, as usual, understated and upright - the song exploring family relationships and the imagery of nature.  It is at 2:03 when the song hits top gear - breaking into a faster tempo and unleashing the soaring vocals that make the song.  'In the quivering forest/ Where the shivering dog rests' is belted out with great heart.

You need to get their album if you haven't yet.  Because, although this song was my favourite this time last year, it's still right up there on my list this year.

Thirty Days of Music Day 05 - A Song That Reminds You of Someone

When the Cardigans released Long Gone Before Daylight in 2003, it wasn't long before a copy of it was on its way to my house.  My mum, who I have to thank for lots of my musical discoveries (including Fleet Foxes, Laura Veirs, Jackson Browne and Josh Rouse), introduced me to the album almost as soon as it arrived.  She's so into music that when a new album enters the house it tends to get played almost non-stop and I soon came to know almost the entire album off by heart.

Communication, a soft ballad of love and relationships, is probably the best track on the CD.  It starts with gentle guitar and Persson's beautiful vocals and progresses beautifully.  The song finishes with a beautiful blend of guitar solos and vocals that complement each other perfectly.  Persson sings out: 'But I don't know how to connect/ So I disconnect' and the song revolves almost solidly around her voice - of course, they knew their strengths when they made the song.  Persson's voice is so flawless throughout the entire album, and it is that which provides the driving force for most of the songs.

This song, and this album, remind of me of cold winters about six years ago when I would sit in the back room doing work and my mum would have this album on.  Most of all, though, it reminds me of my mum and her music taste and how similar hers is to mine. 

Other songs to check out from the album are You're the Storm, For What It's Worth and Please Sister.