Whenever we use the word "new" and Fleet Foxes, someone reminds us they first saw them live 25 years ago, but "He Doesn't Know Why" is part of the shimmery, hymn-making Seattle band's new self-titled debut Sub Pop full-length, so let's call it new. It's also a standout among standouts, a lovely example of the Foxes at their harmonizing, world-weary and world-elated best: "Penniless and tired, with your hair grown long / I was looking at you there and your face looked wrong / Memory is a fickle siren song / I didn't understand." (Maybe get to looking at the sunspots in the accompanying picture and imagine their soundtrack.) The song's being offered as a free download a couple months after "White Winter Hymnal" due to a Sub Pop error.
As Sup Pop notes,
From the "Our Bad" Department:
Due to technical (and a little human) error, the version of "He Doesn't Know Why" from the brand-new, self-titled Fleet Foxes album that was available from the iTunes Music Store had two audio drop-outs. This has now been fixed and all purchases henceforth will be correct and defect-free, as the good lord intended. We apologize profusely for this inconvenience and would like to hereby offer a free MP3 of that song to anyone who would like it. Please accept both this song and our apologies for the mistake.
If you prefer, iTunes customer service will issue a credit to those customers who report the problem. iTunes customer service can be contacted here
Even after 20 years, and attendant oral histories, people can still make mistakes. No worries, Sub Pop, we accept your apology and MP3:
Fleet Foxes - "He Doesn't Know Why" (MP3)
I was just reading the album's liner notes and came across this: "I can ascribe exact memories to songs by the Microphones, Jon Mitchell, Built To Spill, Dungen, Harry Nilsson, and so many others, and it's a form of recall that I can actually trust. There's no visual element to complicate things. No change of planted memory that wasn't actually supposed to be there and that is reassuring to me." Same here. And I'm adding Fleet Foxes to that list.
[Photo by Dan Belisle]
