The third Fleet Foxes album arrives after a six-year hiatus and lands beard-first into the debate on the role of the artist in 2017: to reflect the complex real-world landscape or to make an oblique and beautiful piece of art? Robin Pecknold and his fellow Foxes have opted more for the second option for the follow-up to Hopelessness Blues. As Pecknold tells it, Crack-Up does not lack engagement with the outside world: Cassius is about the violent deaths of young black men, as well as Muhammad Ali’s. But these 11 tracks are immersive, shifting creations, retaining the heavenly signature harmonies of FF’s previous work, while further expanding the band’s sound.
