Album Review: Shore by Fleet Foxes

Sunny folk-rock that represents a more lighthearted - but equally beautiful - departure for one of the most influential acts of the past decade. Late into Shore, Robin Pecknold sings "time's not what I belong to, and you're not the season you're in." Forgetting for a moment the obvious personal implications for Robin, it feels like his arms are outstretched towards all of us. The surrounding climate into which Shore was released cannot be overlooked; 2020 has been less than kind to most people, and Pecknold's lyrics read like an old, sage proverb. You're not defined by the person you are now, the present is merely a season, and you will transform into many other variations of yourself over the course of your life.

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For Robin Pecknold, the music of Fleet Foxes has been a coming-of-age story. Pecknold founded the band in Seattle with childhood friend Skyler Skjelset when they were just about 20 years old, making unpretentious yet studied folk music and quickly signing with Sub Pop, who released the band's pair of landmark 2008 releases, Sun Giant EP and their self-titled debut. Fleet Foxes hid their youth in plain sight, singing fables and channeling musical influences--like Judee Sill and the Byrds--that signaled nous and maturity.

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The release of Fleet Foxes’ fourth album, Shore, was timed to coincide precisely with the autumnal equinox (9:31 a.m. Eastern Time on September 22). With all that this year has brought to bear, the occasion of the surprise release of the lauded folk rock band’s latest album seemed as good as any for a turn in our collective fortunes. Unfortunately, the plague upon the land did not magically disappear upon the album’s release any more so than it did in time for Easter, as hopers had hoped early in the pandemic.

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Fleet Foxes are, in the grand scheme of things, still a relatively young band — it's been 12 years since their self-titled debut found them at the fore of the indie folk revival, and they've only released three albums since, including this week's surprise Shore. But they're definitely no longer new and certainly no longer trendsetters — such is the case with how quickly the tides turn. And Shore, their most ebullient record to date, finds them at peace with the idea of aging and the legacy that's already begun to form around them.

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After casting his net wide with 2017's progressive and intellectually challenging Crack-Up, Robin Pecknold moves into more relatable territory on Shore, Fleet Foxes' winsome fourth outing. Blossoming with artistic growth after a six-year hiatus, Crack-Up saw the Seattle native flexing his academic muscle, leading the band through complex multi-part suites that, while often breathtaking, also roiled with the brine of troubled waters. Released to the public on the exact moment of 2020's autumnal equinox with only a day's advance notice, Shore's comparative tranquility plays almost like a reaction to its predecessor.

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Nothing says Autumn quite like a new Fleet Foxes record. Face facts: summer is gone, temperatures are mellowing out, leaves are beginning to fall, and Robin Pecknold's band are hear to soundtrack the unleashing of your cardigan collection. That's not to say 'Shore' isn't welcome, though. Far from it - indeed, few are better are constructing those honeyed indie-folk moments, with the inherent dewy-eyed nostalgia of their sound pulling at the heartstrings in a way practically no other group can.

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Having previously created two iconic indie folk albums in the form of Fleet Foxes (2007) and Helplessness Blues (2011) the band went on hiatus until 2017's excellent Crack-Up. Naturally, this gets people talking about what's to come next. Mercifully, we've not had to wait quite so long for an answer, one in the form of Shore. A surprise record released at the exact moment of the autumn equinox (14:31pm GMT), aside from there being something fittingly symbolic about a Fleet Foxes album coming during the movement of celestial bodies this is also an album forged out of herculean effort, having been lyricless as of February 2020.

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In the afternoon, as my son and I drove home from a surf, I played him the new Fleet Foxes album, Shore. Halfway through the first song, Wading in Waist-High Water, I asked Max what commercial he could imagine this song sound-tracking. He thought about it, then said, "Brandy Melville. Maybe Hollister." What kind of food are the people eating? "Salad bowls, with organic grains," he said.

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