More small furry omnivorous mammal news from Rolling Stone: “Fleet Foxes will return June 16th with Crack-Up, the follow-up to 2011’s Helplessness Blues. The band announced the album on Tuesday and released “Third of May/Ōdaigahara,” which shows that their harmony-heavy folk-rock remains intact. “Third of May/Ōdaigahara” is an ambitious composition with string orchestration, multiple voices rising in unison and marked shifts from loud to quiet. At several points during the nearly nine-minute song, the pounding piano falls to leave a lone singer, who sounds fragile and isolated. The band roars back to full volume, but in the final minutes of the song are voiceless and beat-less – just a soothing wash of strings.
Lead singer Robin Pecknold wrote “Third of May/Ōdaigahara” along with the other 10 songs on Crack-Up. He also co-produced the record with member Skyler Skjelset. The band recorded the album in the second half of 2016 at studios around the U.S.: Electric Lady Studios, Sear Sound, The Void, Rare Book Room, Avast and The Unknown. Their last album, Helplessness Blues, was released in May of 2011, peaking at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
Fleet Foxes will embark on an international tour before Crack-Up’s release and continue to play live throughout the summer.
Crack-Up Track List
1. “I Am All That I Need/ Arroyo Seco/ Thumbprint Scar”
2. “Cassius, -”
3. “- Naiads, Cassadies”
4. “Kept Woman”
5. “Third of May/ Ōdaigahara”
6. “If You Need To, Keep Time on Me”
7. “Mearcstapa”
8. “On Another Ocean (January/ June)”
9. “Fool’s Errand”
10. “I Should See Memphis”
11. “Crack-Up”
