It is officially the autumn equinox and Fleet Foxes are here to usher in pumpkin spice season and flannels with a new album Shore. If you base your entire personality around the disappearing season known as fall, then today is your day.
Shore was recorded before and during quarantine in Hudson (NY), Paris, Los Angeles, Long Island City and New York City from September 2018 until September 2020 with the help of recording and production engineer Beatriz Artola. Though they aren’t listed as features, contributors to the album include Uwade Akhere (who sings on the opening “Wading in Waist-High Water”), drummers Chris Bear and Homer Steinweiss, composer and artist Meara O’Reilly, Portuguese singer Tim Bernardes, Hamilton Leithauser and his family, Daniel Rossen, Kevin Morby, violist/violinist Marta Sofia Honer and guitarist Michael Bloch, according to Pitchfork.
The album was inspired by Arthur Russell, Nina Simone, Sam Cooke and Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guebrou, who according to frontman Robin Pecknold all celebrated life in the face of death, a prescient issue that we all face today.
“I see Shore as a place of safety on the edge of something uncertain, staring at Whitman’s waves reciting ‘death,’” commented Pecknold. “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.”
The album feels like a warm blanket on a crisp day. It is lush, relaxing and resplendent. Get some warm cider, a small group of friends, some blankets and go to your nearest park with this album and have yourselves a fall day.
Stream the album now and you can watch a 16 mm road movie by Kersti Jan Werdal that showcases the landscapes of the Pacific Northwest set to the score of the album on their website or YouTube.
A physical copy of the LP will be available on February 5.
