Fleet Foxes - sun it rises, 2008

"Borrowing from ageless folk and classic rock (and nicking some of the best bits from prog and soft rock along the way), on their self-titled debut album Fleet Foxes don't just master the art of taking familiar influences and making them sound fresh again, they give a striking sense of who they are and what their world is like."

Fleet Foxes - sun giant, 2008

"The Sun Giant EP introduces the band to the world with a just plain pretty a cappella harmony passage that lays their pastoral tendencies bare, while later on the disc "Mykonos" and "English House" show us their muscle and easy way with loose song structures. The lyrics are non-narrative but vivid nonetheless. See the way the Fleet Foxes refrain "and Michael you would fall and turn the white snow red as strawberries in summertime" plunges you into the stunning guitar-and-voice counterpoint that blows "White Winter Hymnal" wide open. Lead singer Robin Pecknold has a strong, clear voice and knows when to let fly with a drawn-out, impassioned bellow and when to withdraw into the shelter of his bandmates' harmonies. The group shares his sense of dynamics, and Fleet Foxes flows like a river, wild and free but logical, filling what needs to be filled and moving on."

Fleet Foxes - going-to-the-sun road, 2020

"Going-to-the-Sun Road is a scenic mountain road in the Rocky Mountains of the western United States, in Glacier National Park in Montana. The Sun Road, as it is sometimes abbreviated in National Park Service documents, is the only road that traverses the park, crossing the Continental Divide through Logan Pass at an elevation of 6,646 feet (2,026 m), which is the highest point on the road. Construction began in 1921 and was completed in 1932 with formal dedication in the following summer on July 15, 1933. Prior to the construction of the road, visitors would need to spend several days traveling through the central part of the park, an area which can now be traversed within a few hours, excluding any stops for sightseeing or construction."

Fleet Foxes - i'm not my season, 2020

"While the melody of I'm Not My Season is powerful, the vocals are stripped-back, forgoing signature Fleet Foxes harmonies in favour of a a subdued, unguarded delivery that captures the melancholy resolve of the lyrics. These vocals are complimented by the subtle drone of a Moog synth, and the steady gentle strum of guitars that wash over the song like waves lapping against the rocky shore of a windswept island. I'm Not My Season poignantly depicts the experience of being caught in one of the storms and inner-conflicts that inevitably pass through all of our lives, while at the same time acknowledging the transience of these periods. It's a song of hope and perseverance in the face of conflict and turmoil, encouraging us to weather the storm and hold on for a brighter tomorrow."

Fleet Foxes - young man's game, 2020

"I thought it would be funny if Hamilton's kids were on it. My original idea was to have it sung by a 10-year-old boy, and then that was just too gimmicky or something. But I wanted there to be kids on it because it's referencing immaturity or naiveté - things about being young."

Fleet Foxes - maestranza, 2020

"Shore is significantly less immediate than either their eponymous debut album or its follow-up, Helplessness Blues, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. As I listened to the album, I found that my impulse to make comparisons with Fleet Foxes’ previous work fell away as I was increasingly absorbed by the new music. There are no obvious “standout” tracks like Oliver James here – Shore is a cohesive piece of work with much segueing between tracks and is clearly intended to be heard in that way."

Fleet Foxes - for a week or two, 2020

"The hymnal vocals are certainly beautiful. After a lot of densely packed tunes, it is a really nice contrast to have a piece that is so minimal instrumentally, with the piano and what sounds like the sustain pedal release beating here and there. Lovely, and well suited for its purpose on the album"

Fleet Foxes - a long way past the past, 2020

"The melody is so satisfying in this song, you could strip it down to the most minimal elements and I think it would be just as impactful. The bridge is stunning, "I inherited this and I'm overcome" feels like a huge release of tension, and I really like how the song resolves with a single vocal stem after the rest of the song is all harmonies."

Fleet Foxes - jara, 2020

"a musically complex track that still proudly wears its folky heart on its sleeve. I think the addition of Meara O”Reilly is a stroke of genius and gives the track a modern edge and a wall of sound vibe when everything is clicking on all cylinders."

Fleet Foxes - can i believe you, 2020

“The wistful ‘Can I Believe You’ was the first song Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold started to write for Shore. It originated with a riff he came up with during a break from touring their third album, Crack-Up. Pecknold told EW [Entertainment Weekly] that for a while he struggled to get anywhere with the tune and it was actually the hardest track on the record to finish."

Fleet Foxes - third of may odaigahara, 2017

“Third of May/Ōdaigahara” is an ambitious composition with string orchestration, multiple voices rising in unison and marked shifts from loud to quiet. At several points during the nearly nine-minute song, the pounding piano falls to leave a lone singer, who sounds fragile and isolated. The band roars back to full volume, but in the final minutes of the song are voiceless and beat-less – just a soothing wash of strings."

Fleet Foxes - kept woman, 2017

"Crack-Up is enveloping enough to get lost in, and it doesn't always offer easy entry points. For every contained and elegantly pretty ballad like "Kept Woman," there's a byzantine engine of ambition like the title track, which closes Crack-Up with a burst of energy worthy of its title. But the point never gets lost that these songs chronicle the pursuit of contentment, however frustrated — and take great care to linger in the beauty that crops up along the way."

Fleet Foxes - sunblind, 2020

"Throughout the track, frontman Robin Pecknold names off around nineteen artists that have both had an effect on Pecknold’s life and have passed away at a young age. Though the song deals with death, it never comes across as mournful, at least not in a traditional sense. Pecknold vows to carry on the legacy of Elliott Smith, Arthur Russell and a handful of others through his own music, celebrating and honoring by creating music under their influence. Instrumentally, “Sunblind” reflects the same idea, rising to a crescendo under sunny guitars and warm vocals."

Fleet Foxes - lorelai, 2011

"So the deeper “Lorelai” gets into its story and starts adding instruments (some backwards), and harmonies, the further it gets away from its influences and comes out the other side being very much its own thing."

Fleet Foxes - battery kinzie, 2011

"Robin Pecknold remains the ringleader of this Celtic circus. His is the only voice to cut through the thick, lush harmonies that Fleet Foxes splash across every refrain like paint, and his lyrics - rife with allusions to the Bible, Dante the Magician, and the poetry of W.B. Yeats - reach beyond the territory he occupied on the band’s first record, which painted simple geographical portraits with songs like "Sun It Rises," "Ragged Wood," "Quiet Houses," and "Blue Ridge Mountains." On Helplessness Blues, he's just as interested in the landscape of the human heart. Still, it's the music that stands out, and the band's acoustic folk/chamber pop combo makes every song sound like a grand tribute to back-to-the-land living."

Fleet Foxes - wading in waist-high water, 2020

"From the opening chords, the album is a return to the sunny west coast breezy form after the brooding, moody political “Crack Up,” in 2017, which was the first Fleet Foxes album after drummer Josh Tillman went on to form Father John Misty."

Fleet Foxes - drops in the river, 2008

"Drops in the River possesses an intriguingly blunt concision, as though Fleet Foxes have no time for the luxury of long, slow crescendos or meandering jams."

Fleet Foxes - your protector, 2008

"I love how it starts really small and gets to be this huge expanse of sound with a great chorus melody. Pecknold's vocals in the beginning are great and somehow eerie."

Fleet Foxes - in the morning cover live sydney, 2017

"Spanning two hours in duration, the show included an extensive setlist filled with both old songs and new. Notably, it featured live renditions of nearly their whole forthcoming album Crack-Up (with the exception of “Kept Woman”), as well as a cover of the Bee Gees’ “In The Morning.” Fan favorites such as “Mykonos,” “Your Protector,” “White Winter Hymnal,” “He Doesn’t Know Why” and more were played, of course."

Such a great song!

Fleet Foxes - under control cover live at forest hills stadium, 2022

“One thing we all bonded over backstage was a shared love of the Strokes—hearing Uwa’s voice echoing down the halls as she sang ‘The End Has No End’ or ‘Reptilia’ was always a highlight of the day. Considering this, I thought she might get a kick out of singing ‘Under Control’ with us and the Westerlies at Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in Queens, so we pulled it together at soundcheck and asked her—it was amazing! She ruled it.”