Sun Giant
Seattle’s Fleet Foxes bridge two genres: the baroque, organic pop of artists like Grizzly Bear and Beirut, and the gentle, ethereal folk of artists like the Cave Singers and Castanets. Their atmospheric, delicate music evokes rays of sun pouring into an empty church window, vaulted ceilings giving space to tightly focused, reverb-cloaked harmonies, and sky bound notes of cellos, pianos, dulcimers, and guitars. Long time friends Robin Pecknold and Skyler Skjelset grew up listening to The Zombies, Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkel, and Fairport Convention, and the best influences of those artists come through. The title track, a lilting, mostly *a cappella* ode to the pleasures of nature, sets the tone perfectly, and throughout the gorgeous, hymn-like “Drop in the River,” the neo-rock “Mykonos” and the shimmering “English House,” we’re treated to slow-building guitar swells, a deeply bowed cello, gently rolling tom drums and a variety of sparkling, plucked strings. Throughout, thoughtful, evocative lyrics, unusual and unexpected arrangements, and deliberate instrumentation that allows each musician to perform a distinct task results in music that is bewitchingly beautiful.
The Sun Giant EP is our first release with the really very wonderful, baroque harmonic pop combo Fleet Foxes. Their names are Skye, Robin, Joshua, Casey, and Christian and they live here in Seattle, Wash. We will be releasing a longer-length (some might even say “full-length”) recording of theirs on June the 3rd, 2008. This forthcoming recording will, in all likelihood, bear the same name as the band, and by that we mean Fleet Foxes. The following quote is here out of context (and perhaps misused or misconstrued as a result) and taken from the inside cover of Sun Giant. Whatever else it might be, it makes for about as good of a “statement of purpose” as anything we’ve read: “I don’t really know what I’m trying to say with this. It’s not good to romanticize a time of great hardship, hardship I’ve never known and am not conditioned to understand. I’m also not interested in a ‘back to nature’ thing, as nature as it was is gone for the time being and it would take a very big leap of faith and common sense to ignore that. But, music to me is just as awe-bringing as the world maybe once was, and I just love it a lot.” We love it a lot, too.
The first official release from Seattle-based Fleet Foxes may be largely influenced by vintage folk and rock LPs, but this pastoral psych-pop band does something special with these elements. Fusing classic rock, church music, old-timey folk, and epic, reverb-drenched harmonies, the group's brilliantly rustic songs never go quite where you expect them to, instead taking more scenic routes to arrive at perfect, natural conclusions.
Fleet Foxes cover a lot of territory -- both musical and geographical -- on Sun Giant, their debut EP for Sub Pop.
Like some stolen gem from the Green Man or Cambridge Folk Festival's, Fleet Foxes have that ultra-contemporary freshness, uniqueness and relevance that made them one of the most talked about acts at this years SXSW Festival.