Helplessness Blues is the anticipated follow-up to Fleet Foxes' 2008 debut. Recorded and co-produced by fellow Seattleite Phil Ek, it finds the band continuing to take their music in unusual directions, creating a baroque folk-pop sound that hints at a number of influences, but is too unique to warrant any direct links between the Seattle boys and their predecessors. It's a downright gorgeous record, filled to the brim with glee club harmonies and the sort of stringed instruments that are virtually unknown to anyone who didn't go to music school. Relying on obscure instrumentation can be a dangerous game, but Helplessness Blues has the necessary songs to back it up, from the slow crescendos of the album-opening "Montezuma" to the sweeping orchestral arrangement of the encore number, "Grown Ocean."

• Released: 05/03/2011
• Format: Vinyl
• Genre: Rock