Hannah and Matt on Music: “Shore”
Matt’s Take: Fleet Foxes, as shown by my last review for “Hannah and Matt,” are a band that are pretty new to me so I didn’t have to wait quite as long for a new album as their fanbase. That being said, this new album was a nice little surprise for me. Like their self-titled debut album, this album really puts me in the setting of autumn and breezy days. This feeling that an album can impart is so powerful that it taps into my soul and genuinely touches me. With albums like these, I can confidently say that Fleet Foxes are one of the most interesting bands working today and I can consider myself a real fan. This album works so well as one epic of emotional intensity with hardly any breathing room in between (the transition between the first two tracks, “Wading in Waist-High Water” and “Sunblind” serving as a prime example). While I didn’t quite love this album as much as their debut, it did hit me in all the right places. I have no issues declaring that this is a great album and I can give it an easy recommendation to anyone. I will be re-listening to this album a good amount during the Autumn season, and who’s to say that my love for this album won’t increase immensely over those revisits? This week is full of new releases by some truly great artists, and I couldn’t be happier to have “Shore” kick it all off!
Three Standout Tracks: “Sunblind,” “For a Week or Two” and “I’m Not My Season.”
Overall Score: 8.4/10
Hannah’s Take: “Shore” is a semi-surprise album, the fourth released by my favorite band, Fleet Foxes. Frontman/founder/second coming of Jesus Christ, Robin Pecknold almost scrapped the record entirely, but decided not to. And I am so glad he didn’t. I’ve never immediately fallen in love with any FF album, and unfortunately I don’t have immediate love for “Shore” either, but that’s not to say the album is bad. Personally, I enjoy the mellow, soft songs that are typical of the group. “Shore” is anything but mellow. Upbeat and happy, “Shore” is a homage to life that comes after death, inspired both by Pecknold’s surfing accident years ago and, of course, the COVID pandemic. The first half of the album is a little too happy for my liking, the drums are a bit overproduced, but the beginning songs host a variety of collaborations with other alternative artists that add a refreshing element to Fleet Foxes’s discography. The second half hosts the Fleet Foxes we all know, love, and expect. Still influenced by places and geography, the later tracks bring me back to their masterpiece, “Helplessness Blues.” I admire Pecknold for doing something different and not feeding listeners the same hymns we’ve grown to love. I admire him more for giving life to such a wonderful album, one I’ll listen to again and again and fall in love with like I have every other Fleet Foxes album.
Three Standout Tracks: “For a Week or Two,” “Maestranza,” and “Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman”
Overall Score: 8.5/10