Earlier this summer, I reviewed the new Fleet Foxes album, ‘Crack-Up.’ I don't think the album was a masterpiece (I gave it an 8.0.) In fact, the best thing I got from it was an opportunity to catch up on ‘Helplessness Blues,’ the Seattle outfits' second full-length effort, and it really made an impact on me. Whereas everyone else's song of the summer was "Despacito," mine was the eponymous track from a Fleet Foxes album, but I digress. Although ‘Crack-Up’ was a bit uneven and sans any real "hits," its greatest virtue was the vast, world-building soundscape Robin Pecknold created within it. ‘Helplessness Blues,’ and, even more so, 'Fleet Foxes' sound like going to a concert and listening to Fleet Foxes. You drive down the crumbling highway, go into the arena named after a corrupt bank, and watch the band play its twee, rye music in the same place that a basketball team went 10-72. It's not an ideal place, but you also get to hear them play "Lorelai," so you take what you can get.
But ‘Crack-Up’ did something differently. It doubled down on the universe of the sound. It made every production decision and mixing choice and cryptic lyric as Fleet Foxes as it could be. It no longer sounded like seeing a folk rock band in Philadelphia. It sounded like seeing them play with instruments freshly carved out of wood in the forests of Washington. Barefoot.
And I felt the same thing listening to ‘A Deeper Understanding’ after re-listening to the War On Drugs' previous effort, ‘Lost In The Dream.’ Whereas ‘Lost In The Dream’ sounded like seeing The War On Drugs in Philadelphia (which is pretty convenient since the band is based in Philadelphia. By the way, if you're reading this, sorry for the digs at your infrastructure, Wells Fargo Center, and the '76ers, Adam. The rest of the city is beautiful), ‘A Deeper Understanding’ sounds like listening to the band as both of you drive down empty road at eighty miles an hour (but more of a end of 'Dazed And Confused' kind of way than a 'Mad Max: Fury Road' kind of way.) The music has doubled down on itself, widening its scope and providing the listener an outlet with which to immerse him or herself within the universe. Adam Granduciel and co. are giving us, in a way, a deeper understanding.
The opening track, "Up All Night," is surprisingly modest as an opener. The one thing that sticks out is the industrial beat that kicks in in the second verse. The band has certainly diversified its sound in ‘A Deeper Understanding’ (while still sticking to its core.) "Holding On," a real highlight in the album, features twinkling synths that add a certain mystique to the album. "Pain" holds a very showy vocal performance, which is uncommon. Usually, his voice plays second-fiddle to the instrumentals (in a good way) à la Matt Berenger, but here, he goes full-out Springsteen, drawing yet another War On Drugs comparison to The Boss. It's clear that Granduciel has worked very, very hard on this album, making the cover art appropriate.
Then, there are moments where you lose complete motor function whilst listening to this album. "Strangest Thing" starts out as just a solid track, but it elevates at the end with a guitar solo that might just bring back guitar solos, as we know them. "In Chains" starts with an arpeggiated piano riff that can make it a "Slow Dance At An 80s Prom" kind of song. The song takes you on a journey of ups and down and finishes again with a cathartic piano performance to bookend the best song of the album. "Knocked Down," the shortest song on the album, is such a welcoming down-note of a track. In some ways, it sounds like a B-side on ‘Lost In The Dream,’ but on others, it sounds like the musical heart of the album. And there's also "Nothing To Find," which just glides in the second half via synths, but that shouldn't take way from even that song's musical density. This album is like Rome: huge and magnificent, but characteristic of these small, personal roads with so much substance within them.
This isn't to say ‘A Deeper Understanding’ isn't without its shortcomings, though. Although not as obtuse as ‘Crack-Up,’ this album still has something left to be desired, and the consistently "very good but not a classic" album reviews are indicative of that. The jury's still out on whether "Thinking Of A Place" is the emotional centerpiece of the album or just an overdrawn song that the band reached a little bit too far. Also, the closing tracks, "Clean Living" and "You Don't Have To Go" signal that the album had finally ran out of gas, but at least it did right at its destination. The journey, though, is magnificent. At over an hour long, it really goes by quickly at only 10 tracks. It's a deep, nuanced record, one that you can just listen to over and over again and never get tired of. Yeah, kind of like ‘Crack-Up.’
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