Helplessness Blues

Pecknold wrote it in a cabin in Port Townsend late in 2008, after a first round of sessions was thrown out at a cost of $60,000. He wanted it less poppy and more groove-based, with Roy Harper's Stormcock and Van Morrison's Astral Weeks in mind. Drums were tracked at Dreamland in upstate New York, with more work in Seattle and Woodinville; a mix made at Sear Sound was abandoned, and Greg Calbi mastered it at Sterling Sound. Ek recorded Pecknold's voice through a Neumann U67 with just a plate for reverb. It reached four in the United States, two in Britain and one in Norway, and was nominated for the Grammy for Best Folk Album.