REVIEW: FLEET FOXES EDEN SESSION IN CORNWALL (01/07/11)
Seattle’s Fleet Foxes may not be the most explosive or animated of bands to bring this year’s Eden Sessions to a close but they’re certainly more conducive to the eco-righteous surroundings than any other contenders that you care to imagine. The scruff-ball sextet shuffled on with such a noticeable nonchalance you were forgiven for thinking that they were stage crew going about their business, but as soon as the opening salvo of ‘The Cascades’ and ‘Grown Ocean’ wrapped themselves gleefully around your heartstrings, it was just a matter of moments before you were wishing that all music sounded like this, not just Crosby, Stills & Nash. Conversely, The Bees’ opening set in the early evening sunshine was a lacklustre and pedestrian affair: the band oblivious even to their own disinterest. Conor O’Brien’s Villagers, on the other hand, were a revelation, especially when the harrowing lilt of ‘On A Sunlit Stage’ and the beguiling ‘Becoming A Jackal’ turned us all into gibbering wrecks. Conor’s appropriation of Paul Simon as seen through Bright Eyes was at times astonishing, with an understated subtlety that’s as powerful as it is heart-wrenching.
Fleet Foxes, meanwhile, are warming (almost) to their role of neo-folk rock ambassadors, making sardonic quips, gushing about the biodomed idyll and wallowing (kind of) in the ovation afforded to verdant, backwoods gems like ‘Oliver James’, ‘Your Protector’ and a blistering, pitch-perfect ‘White Winter Hymnal’. Vocalist Robin Pecknold’s social anxiety may be evident but it only adds to the universal feeling of empathy. Songs from ‘Helplessness Blues’ are also received like old friends; especially the epic ‘Montezuma’ and ‘Shrine/An Argument’: vignettes that allowed for Pecknold’s inimitably rich voice to soar. The band, visually ineffective for the most part but brimming with confidence, imbued the songs with a deft touch not seen on these shores since the equally magnificent Midlake last waltzed into view. The only blot on an otherwise perfect landscape was a less-than flattering re-rendering of ‘Tiger Mountain Peasant Song’, which seemed to lose a lot of its Appalachian charm in the transformation. Minor quibbles aside, this is timeless music, beautifully assembled, with harmonies to die for. American folksong for the win, as always.
Words: Darren Johns
Photo: Jonathan Fisher via Flickr
