Album Review: Fleet Foxes – Shore

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While you were sleeping Fleet Foxes released a “surprise” new album, Shore, their first since 2017’s Crack-Up.

And why, I hear you ask, has the album been released at precisely 1:31am NZ time? Why, because that’s the exact time of the Autumnal Equinox in the Northern Hemisphere.

So sure enough, if you check Spotify or any of your streaming services of choice, you will find Shore sitting there waiting to be heard.

A few basic facts about the album. It consists of 15 tracks recorded before and during quarantine in Hudson (NY), Paris, Los Angeles, Long Island City and New York City from September 2018 until September 2020 with the help of recording and production engineer Beatriz Artola.

The fifteen song, fifty-five minute Shore was initially inspired by frontman Robin Pecknold’s musical heroes such as Arthur Russell, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke, Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guebrou and more who, in his experience, celebrated life in the face of death. “I see “shore” as a place of safety on the edge of something uncertain, staring at Whitman’s waves reciting ‘death,’” commented Pecknold. “Tempted by the adventure of the unknown at the same time you are relishing the comfort of the stable ground beneath you. This was the mindset I found, the fuel I found, for making this album.”

And to top things off, there is a 55 minute film to go with it:

If you want to know more, click here to read Pecknold’s extensive statement.

So, how does the album sound? Well, strangely calming. I say strangely because a lot of the new music being released now reflects the current political, social and environment crises (wait til you hear the new one from The Deftones).

I personally was not that enamoured by the Fleet Foxes previous release…I found it, frankly, pretentious. But this one is anything but. So, hopefully you can take some time to give Shore a listen or two today. It’s too early to give it a full-on review but I’m pretty sure you’ll feel better after hearing it.

Marty Duda

 

Marty Duda
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