Fleet Foxes!

Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes, Fleet Foxes! A great name and a great sound. I really enjoy their self titled album. It is one of those that I can listen through, enjoy, sing along, and wish I knew how to play each instrument in every song. Their music makes me feel like I am back in time, a time I don't know, where the advances of technology are not with me, where life is simple. Not as many electrical wires going around the bottom of your desk, or in the middle of your hallway, but more plant roots surrounding the base of a tree, or crawling out of the ground and up a monument or house. Not as many boy bands, but musical artists who write their own music and travel around on foot to share their creations with others who appreciate their music.
White winter hymnal starts off with an incredible sound, as the lead singer begins: "I was following the, I was following the, I was following the," While a couple of the other members of the band start off with him. They follow through with him the rest of the verse, until some, "Ooo ooo ooo ooo, woo"s start coming in. The drums are a soft, but inviting and relaxingly slow beat. The instruments blend so well together that you begin to get completely lost in the words. Winter comes to mind, then summer. You think, "Who is Michael? What is the background to this story? How does Michael falling turn the snow red as strawberries in the summertime?" So many questions and thoughts come into my mind, making me search for answers, while the guitar and the drums all continue on, growing upon themselves, never waiting for you to catch up, just enjoying themselves as they continue on in sounds that bring colors of green and brown, and falling leaves to mind.
What can I learn from their lyrics? What can I do to make my own? What Michael's do I know that are clumsy and can bring great thoughts to mind? This whole song is wonderful, it stretches my mind and makes me want to search myself to find what melodies and chord progressions I have hidden away that I don't know about, waiting to be found and shared.
Their performances of their music live sound great, exactly the way I would expect it. They seem so mature with their music, it gives me hope that there are people out there writing music to play it, to write it, and enjoy it, not just please their boss or a crowd. They seem to do their own thing, and that is what I think they do best. I hope that there are more bands out there like this one.