Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues part III

Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues
In the three short years since their self-titled debut, Fleet Foxes have become the unlikely granddaddies of the recent nu-folk revival, spiritually if not strictly temporally. The slow seep of vocal harmony, organic finger-picking and earthy subject matter have brought the old school to the new school, so their follow-up effort was always going to be picked over and assessed with even more gusto than its predecessor. Fortunately, in a triumph for not-broke-don’t-fix, Helplessness Blues plays like the Side B we’ve been waiting for.
Opener 'Montezuma' feels like a trumpet fanfare opening Act Two, starting with the perfect introductory line “So now that I’m older/than my mother and father/when they had their daughter/now what does that say about me?” – the“so” suggests a conversation recommencing after interruption which is exactly how it feels. The trademark Beach Boys harmonies are still pin-sharp, and frontman Robin Pecknold returns as Mr Safe Hands (the David Seaman of Seattle, if you will), so all roads point to a happy comeback.
Second track 'Bedouin Dress' sees the first a capella breakdown of the record – don’t worry, the first of many – before moving into Beirut territory and beyond. 'Sim Sala Bim' and 'Grown Ocean' share a runaway train quality, with more pace than you might associate with the band you thought you knew, but it’s eight-minute opus The Shrine/An Argument which hints at a future direction with some simple looping adding texture. Above all, Helplessness Blues adds immediacy to the familiar; it’s not just an assured return, but the first shoe-in come end-of-year list