Seattle folk revivalists Fleet Foxes are one of those bands with a lot to live up to with the release of their second album, "Helplessness Blues." This is the first time the group released new material since its self-titled debut album, which was well-received by critics who near-unanimously declared it the best album of 2008.
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Since then, they have signed to Sub Pop and garnered success with indie hit "White Winter Hymnal." But those eager to listen to "Helplessness Blues" won't hear a song comparable to "White Winter Hymnal" in either commercial appeal or sheer aesthetic magic.
Indeed, there is an absence of emphatic moments in this record. For example, "Someone You'd Admire" is a beautiful song, but there is something about a melody that keeps the same time signature throughout that prevents it from becoming really compelling.
Luckily, the next song, "The Shrine/An Argument," is infinitely more interesting. Frontman Robin Pecknold changes his tone and dynamics here — he sounds a little angry, and almost screams at times. The song seems to be about Pecknold's inability to enjoy the natural world because of some nostalgia for his childhood and some lost friend or crush. Then, about two minutes into the eight-minute song, a dissonant electric guitar whines before a bass drum drops and seems to carry Pecknold's sorrow for what he confirms to be a lost lover. He screams, "When you talk you hardly even look in my eyes."
There is another movement where more dissonance resounds, while Pecknold hauntingly shares more details of how the natural world, specifically the fruits of summer, reminds him of this lost lover. This song is certainly not "White Winter," and there is no doubt that this is the darkest FF has ever sounded. In the past, all their songs have developed from a love for Bob Dylan and Hank Williams. In this song, they just wrote straight from their hearts.
To be sure, "Helplessness Blues" does not have some of the heavy hitting pop songs of their previous record such as "White Winter Hymnal" or "Quiet Houses." However, they make up for it with compelling lyrics, compositional structures and an overall reassertion of a sense of purpose.
