Over the last ten days, I have been listening to Shore, the new album from Fleet Foxes. Without fail, each day, a new favourite has emerged. First, it was Sunblind, reminiscent of the Beach Boys, then Can I Believe You, I’m Not My Season, Featherweight, and so on. Right now, I have an *earworm, from the title track, burrowing its way into my consciousness. I think Paul Simon’s Graceland was the last time there were so many songs to treasure in one album. (Though I’m forgetting the pleasures I found in All the Things I Did and All the Things I Didn’t Do, the last album from The Milk Carton Kids; but in that case, it took a little longer to be captured.)
There’s so much to enjoy in the Shore songs! No two tracks are alike. It may be the same lead singer each time, but the voice or voices are blended differently. Sometimes, Robin Pecknold is singing solo. On the next track, he could be singing harmonies with himself or have his and many other voices deeply embedded in the music. The same goes for the instrumentation – bursts of brass, jazzy and dreamy piano, heavy drumming, lovely guitar (on Thymia), and embellishments like tweeting birds, or a snippet of conversation.
The lyrics have taken a little longer to emerge. I get the impression that Shore is a diary of an idyllic holiday near the sea, tinged with questions about love, the meaning of life, and thoughts of mortality.
I like that Fleet Foxes know when to end a song; many of them are relatively short. All the potential singles are upfront, and the avant-garde, more experimental pieces come before the finale. As on previous albums, there is the obligatory discordant track, this time: Cradling Mother, Cradling Woman. But, don’t let that rob you of enjoying a band at their peak.
*An earworm, sometimes known as a brain-worm, sticky music, stuck song syndrome, or Involuntary Musical Imagery (IMI), is a catchy piece of music that continually repeats through a person’s mind after it is no longer playing.
Words of wisdom from George Harrison
Watch out now, take care / Beware of the thoughts that linger / Winding up inside your head / The hopelessness around you / In the dead of night
From Beware of darkness – All Things Must Pass
Between the concept and the reality
You take to bodies and you twirl them into one / Their hearts and their bones and they won’t come undone.
If only this were true. These lyrics, from Paul Simon’s Hearts and Bones, were written when he was married to Carrie Fisher.
Quotable quotes from J. I. Packer
By sin, the New Testament means rebellion against, defiance of, retreat from, and consequent guilt before God.
Christians live not be being perfect, but by being forgiven.
A personal prayer – inspired by Psalm 143
O Lord God, my enemy knows the weaknesses of my flesh and he pursues me, seeking to crush me, and cause me to despair. Rescue me from the sinful cravings of my flesh, the enticements of the world, and the plots and traps of the enemy. I come to you for protection. Teach me to do your will. Amen.
Grace and mercy – what’s the difference?
While grace involves God giving us what we do not deserve, mercy is God not giving us what is deserved.
In My Life 