For a while, it seemed like we might never hear a third Fleet Foxes album after frontman Robin Pecknold absconded to Columbia University and busied himself with other musical projects, but the follow-up to 2011's Helplessness Blues sees the Seattle band at something of a crossroads. Crack-Up is an altogether more ponderous record, with lyrics musing on life and a musical blueprint that diverges from what came before. There are altogether fewer singalongs and more incursions into long passages, key changes and progressive time signatures, as heard on Cassius,- and Mearcstapa. In the midst of the experimentation, the band's harmonies and Pecknold's impeccable vocals retain their recognisable style on the gorgeous – Naiads, Cassadies and the dreamlike I Should See Memphis. That concoction makes for an album that's undoubtedly more interesting than their previous fare, but also perhaps less enjoyable. Fleetfoxes.com