IT CAME as a surprise to most when, on last month’s autumn equinox, Fleet Foxes suddenly unveiled their new album, Shore.
It’s full of the same wonderful, ethereal and warm folk harmonies we’ve come to expect from them across their 14-year recording career, a career that’s featured such breathless peaks as Helplessness Blues. Do you know anyone who doesn’t have a place in their heart for that album?
And now they’ve shared the video for “Can I Believe You” from their new one.
Robin Pecknold said of the song: “[It] draws from the age-old folk tradition of headbangers about trust issues.
“The verse is the chorus, the chorus is a bridge, the bridge is a different song, it’s all backwards but that was what made it so fun to make. Please enjoy!”
Sean Pecknold, who directed the video, said: “With this film, I created an interpretation of what trust (or the uncertainty of it) feels like as two characters journey towards one another through a pulsating world.
“This film also reflects the frustration and lack of human connection brought to all of us during the pandemic of 2020.
“Our dedicated film crew worked hard to bring this to life and we hope you find metaphors in it you can relate to as you listen to the music and watch the film.”
Shore was recorded before and during quarantine in Hudson, New York state; Paris, Los Angeles, Long Island City and New York City. Fifteen songs over 55 minutes Shore were inspired by Robin’s musical heroes such as Arthur Russell, Nina Simone and Sam Cooke, who 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,’” he said; “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.”
Fleet Foxes’ Shore is available now digitally on ANTI-, with the physical release to follow on February 6th next year. The CD and 2xLP formats are available to pre-order now from ANTI-, here; or if you’re in the UK, from reliable dealers such as Piccadilly, here.
Follow Fleet Foxes at their website, on Instagram, at Robin’s Instagram page and on Facebook.
