In 2008, few records sounded more timely — and yet somehow timeless — than the self-titled debut of Seattle's five-piece Fleet Foxes. An elegiac mix of folk-rock melodies and contemplative harmonies blessed with a stillness both stern and beautiful, Fleet Foxes tied together strands of America's history, musical and otherwise, at a time when the country was up for grabs."There's a certain subversion of the actual America that happens in an election year — you hear a distorted version of the country, the Sarah Palin version of what America is," says Robin Pecknold, vocalist and chief songwriter of Fleet Foxes.
"The great deception of the 21st century is the Republicans convincing the working class they're on their side when there's not a single policy you could point to that illustrates that."
Seated in the Seattle office of Sub Pop, the band's record label, Pecknold is quietly spoken but certain of what he wants to say. Still in his early 20s — the facial hair favoured by the group adds a few years — he has made an album about personal faith in times of crisis and how a nation's upheaval is felt on a personal level. As Canada's the Band once did, Fleet Foxes touch on the past to detail the present.
"In terms of the message on the record, it's about family and finding a genuine space to live in," Pecknold says. "With America, you're dealing with a very difficult country. For America to change for the better it would need to become a colony of Norway. There's a tonne of stuff written into the American mindset that is outmoded but difficult to transcend."
Their grooming, combined with Pecknold's oft-stated admiration for Bob Dylan and Fleet Foxes' pastoral sound, have left the outfit with the tag of hippies.
But this does them a disservice — you can as easily hear the 1860s as the 1960s in their music, with Pecknold's use of somewhat formal language and the group's invoking of the folk tradition.
"The record wasn't meant to evoke the 1960s in any particular way. The weirder, older American stuff is more interesting to me," says Pecknold.
The youngest of three children, Pecknold grew up the son of progressive parents. His mother was a school teacher and his father built everything from boats to guitars. Much has been made of what he learnt by going through his parents' collection of vinyl, but the robust discussion at the family dinner table was just as important. It left Pecknold with a quiet confidence and ready determination, qualities he shared with his best friend from high school, Skye Skjelset, who is now the guitarist for Fleet Foxes.
"I suppose music is kind of cyclical and that people are more interested in hearing a certain thing at a certain time," Pecknold says. "But all that stuff is someone else's game because we'd have made the same record no matter what."
This year alone, Fleet Foxes have toured North America three times and Europe twice. Near unanimous critical acclaim has also translated into healthy CD sales. Fleet Foxes has sold about 400,000 copies worldwide.
SOURCE: http://www.theage.com.au
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Insound LP+MP3! Purchase the vinyl format of Fleet Foxes and you'll receive a link to download the MP3s for free immediately after check-out! VINYL FORMAT. Seattle's Fleet Foxes traffic in baroque harmonic pop. They draw influences from the traditions of folk, pop, choral, gospel, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, film scores, and their NW peers. The subject matter ranges from the natural world and familial bonds to bygone loves and stone cold graves.
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