Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Props to Helplessness Blues for making the fretless zither cool again. On their second album, Fleet Foxes continue to take their music in unusual directions, creating a baroque folk-pop sound that hints at a number of influences -- Simon & Garfunkel, Fairport Convention, the Beach Boys -- but is too unique, too esoteric, too damn weird to warrant any direct links between the Seattle boys and their predecessors. It's still a downright gorgeous record, though, filled to the brim with glee club harmonies and the sort of stringed instruments that are virtually unknown to anyone who didn't go to music school (and even if you did, when's the last time you rocked out on the Marxophone?). Relying on obscure instrumentation can be a dangerous game, and Fleet Foxes occasionally run the risk of sounding too clever for their own good, as if the need to "out-folk" groups like Mumford & Sons and Midlake is more important than writing memorable, articulate folk tunes. But Helplessness Blues has the necessary songs to back it up, from the slow crescendos of the album-opening "Montezuma" to the sweeping orchestral arrangement of the encore number, "Grown Ocean." Robin Pecknold remains the ringleader of this Celtic circus. His is the only voice to cut through the thick, lush harmonies that Fleet Foxes splash across every refrain like paint, and his lyrics -- rife with allusions to the Bible, Dante the Magician, and the poetry of W.B. Yeats -- reach beyond the territory he occupied on the band’s first record, which painted simple geographical portraits with songs like "Sun It Rises," "Ragged Wood," "Quiet Houses," and "Blue Ridge Mountains." On Helplessness Blues, he's just as interested in the landscape of the human heart. Still, it's the music that stands out, and the band's acoustic folk/chamber pop combo makes every song sound like a grand tribute to back-to-the-land living.
© Andrew Leahey /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From kr133,33/month
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Hanna Benn, String Arranger - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Alina To, Violin - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Alina To, Violin - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Trevor Spencer, AssistantEngineer - Robin Pecknold, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin, Piano, Vocals, Writer, Synthesizer, Moog, Dulcimer, Harmonium, Fiddle - Greg Calbi, MasteringEngineer - Jay Follette, AssistantEngineer - PHIL EK, Producer, Mixer, Engineer - Fleet Foxes, Producer, Arranger, MainArtist - Christian Wargo, Bass Guitar, Vocals - Adam Armstrong, AssistantEngineer - Josh Tillman, Drums, Percussion, Vocals - Bill Patton, Guitar, Pedal Steel Guitar - Jonny Mendoza, AssistantEngineer - Casey Wescott, Harpsichord, Organ, Piano, Moog, Harmonium, Zither, Mellotron, Samples, Miscellaneous, VocalArranger, Tibetan Singing Bowl Bells, Crumar Roadrunner Bass Keyboards - Morgan Henderson, Upright Bass, Woodwind - Skyler Skjelset, Acoustic Guitar, Electric Guitar, Harp, Mandolin - Davey Brozowski, AssistantEngineer - Brian Kornfeld, AssistantEngineer - Cathy Ferrante, AssistantEngineer
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Album review
Props to Helplessness Blues for making the fretless zither cool again. On their second album, Fleet Foxes continue to take their music in unusual directions, creating a baroque folk-pop sound that hints at a number of influences -- Simon & Garfunkel, Fairport Convention, the Beach Boys -- but is too unique, too esoteric, too damn weird to warrant any direct links between the Seattle boys and their predecessors. It's still a downright gorgeous record, though, filled to the brim with glee club harmonies and the sort of stringed instruments that are virtually unknown to anyone who didn't go to music school (and even if you did, when's the last time you rocked out on the Marxophone?). Relying on obscure instrumentation can be a dangerous game, and Fleet Foxes occasionally run the risk of sounding too clever for their own good, as if the need to "out-folk" groups like Mumford & Sons and Midlake is more important than writing memorable, articulate folk tunes. But Helplessness Blues has the necessary songs to back it up, from the slow crescendos of the album-opening "Montezuma" to the sweeping orchestral arrangement of the encore number, "Grown Ocean." Robin Pecknold remains the ringleader of this Celtic circus. His is the only voice to cut through the thick, lush harmonies that Fleet Foxes splash across every refrain like paint, and his lyrics -- rife with allusions to the Bible, Dante the Magician, and the poetry of W.B. Yeats -- reach beyond the territory he occupied on the band’s first record, which painted simple geographical portraits with songs like "Sun It Rises," "Ragged Wood," "Quiet Houses," and "Blue Ridge Mountains." On Helplessness Blues, he's just as interested in the landscape of the human heart. Still, it's the music that stands out, and the band's acoustic folk/chamber pop combo makes every song sound like a grand tribute to back-to-the-land living.
© Andrew Leahey /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 12 track(s)
- Total length: 00:49:57
- 1 Digital booklet
- Main artists: Fleet Foxes
- Label: Nonesuch
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
© 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc. ℗ 2011 Fleet Foxes under exclusive license to Nonesuch Records Inc.
Distinctions:
Improve album information
Why buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.
