Fleet Foxes

Fleet Foxes are an indie folk band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 2006 by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Robin Pecknold and guitarist Skye Skjelset, later joined by bassist Christian Wargo, keyboardist Casey Wescott, and drummer Josh Tillman (who would later launch the Father John Misty project). One of the most acclaimed folk acts of the 2000s and 2010s, they brought the rich vocal harmonies of 1960s folk and the lyrical imagery of the English pastoral tradition to a contemporary indie context with debut work of remarkable purity and beauty. Having self-released an EP and built a following through blogs and word of mouth, they signed to Sub Pop and released their debut *Fleet Foxes* (2008) to universal critical acclaim — 'White Winter Hymnal,' 'Ragged Wood,' 'He Doesn't Know Why,' and 'Quiet Houses' were immediate favourites, and the album's lush vocal arrangements, chiming acoustic guitar, and lyrical richness made it one of the year's most celebrated releases. It won the BBC Music Album of the Year and the Shortlist Music Prize. *Helplessness Blues* (2011), dealing with Pecknold's anxieties about creative purpose and his place in the world, was even more critically admired — 'Helplessness Blues' itself and 'The Shrine / An Argument' were career highlights, and the album demonstrated his growth as a writer of considerable depth. Following a period during which Pecknold studied at Columbia University, *Crack-Up* (2017) was a more structurally complex and harder-to-parse record — longer, more dissonant, and requiring more patient attention. *Shore* (2020), released on the autumn equinox during the pandemic, was a warmer, more communal record built on gratitude and human connection that was received as a moving and timely statement. Fleet Foxes' influence on the 2000s folk revival and on subsequent generations of harmony-rich acoustic music has been considerable.