A couple weeks ago, Fleet Foxes released their stunning new album Shore. We’ve all gravitated towards different songs on there: We selected the album’s mission statement “Sunblind” as one of our favorite songs that week, I personally love all the otherworldly/autumnal stuff like “Maestranza” and “Quiet Air,” while I’ve seen a lot of people shout out stuff like “Jara” as a striking evolution of old Fleet Foxes forms. I think one thing we can all agree on though is that “Can I Believe You” was an instant, all-time Fleet Foxes classic: It’s got the huge, swooping central melody, a thrumming arrangement, and just enough weirdness twisting the edges of its composition. I’ve woken up with it stuck in my head almost every day since I got Shore. Now, the song has a video to go with it.

“This song draws from the age-old folk tradition of headbangers about trust issues,” Robin Pecknold said in a statement, by way of digging into “Can I Believe You” a bit more. “The verse is the chorus, the chorus is a bridge, the bridge is a different song, it’s all backwards but that was what made it so fun to make. Please enjoy!”

The video — directed by Robin’s brother and frequent collaborator Sean Pecknold — features two dancers against bold, constantly shifting color backdrops and interacting with giant, stark shapes. It gets at relationship issues through some fusion of interpretive dance and pop art. Here’s what Sean Pecknold had to say about it:

With this film, I created an interpretation of what trust (or the uncertainty of it) feels like as two characters journey towards one another through a pulsating world. This film also reflects the frustration and lack of human connection brought to all of us during the pandemic of 2020. Our dedicated film crew worked hard to bring this to life and we hope you find metaphors in it you can relate to as you listen to the music and watch the film. As always, Adi Goodrich and I loved bringing Robin’s songs to life with mesmerizing visuals. This is the third part of a three-video FF trilogy starring Jade-Lorna Sullivan and Jean Charles.

Check it out below.

Fleet Foxes have also announced outdoor screenings of Kersti Jan Werdal’s Shore film:

10/18 – Portland, OR @ Rose City Rollers Drive-In
10/18 – Los Angeles, CA @ Ace Hotel
10/18 – Brooklyn, NY @ Elsewhere
10/19 – Austin, TX @ Blue Starlite (Mueller)
10/24 – Seattle Area, WA @ Vasa Park Resort Drive-In
11/01 – Chicago, IL @ The Drive-In At Lincoln Yards