This is going to be a very fast, un-edited writeup because I have a currently nonexistent discrete math assignment that needs to exist, soon. But I’ve been listening to Sunblind off the new Fleet Foxes album on repeat for the last three days, and I can’t let it go unblogged about any longer.
Wasn’t going to listen to the new Fleet Foxes album. Didn’t even know there was a new Fleet Foxes album. Fleet Foxes is a band I usually categorize as “pretty good” background music, but not worth following. And I’ve pretty much just had the same four Ryan Beatty songs and Meet Me in the City by Junior Kimbrough on repeat for the last month—but then Omeed recommended the album, so I had to.
I listened to the whole album in one sitting while on a late night Zoom—and unexpectedly, I really really liked it. I don’t think it’s an album you can listen to while doing nothing else, but at about 60-70% concentration, it’s perfect. Lots of seamless transitions.
I’m too lazy to re-type out my thoughts on the album, so I’ll literally just screenshot this:
Out of the whole 54 minute album, Sunblind is my undisputed favorite.
The instrumentals are warm and glittering, like the late afternoon sun on the Pacific Ocean (NorCal version). There are no wheels being reinvented, but the song is so impossibly familiar and wonderful to me. It has the same building catharsis and symphony-effect that Third of May / Ōdaigahara does so well.
The chorus is just lovely:
I’m gonna swim for a week in
Warm American water with dear friends
Just intending that I would delight them
Swimming high on a lea in an Eden
“Warm American water with dear friends”—that line is a Core Memory™. The entire song—nay, album—feels like one. I know what he means, even though I don’t.
There are also a lot of references / homages to other musical artists embedded in the song, but you can find all that on Genius.
Sunblind feels like it’s about serenity and rebirth and contentment and—Jaide is going to kill me—healing. I’ve been really vibing with all of those things recently, so it feels like I found the song at the exact right time. Almost like it was released for me. And finding music that feels that way is always amazing.
Also, the first line of the final verse just won me over completely:
In your rarified air I feel sunblind
Every time I think that human beings have exhausted all possible ways to say ‘I love you’, someone comes out with In your rarified air I feel sunblind. Like, I’m gonna write this down in a notebook and save it for years later. Someone needs to use it as wedding vow ASAP.
Listen to Sunblind.