Quiet Houses

This was the first song that the Fleet Foxes' principal songwriter Robin Pecknold wrote that showcased the band's celestial four-part harmonies. He explained to the London Times June 20th 2008: "Prior to that, there were a few songs we were working on that were very much focused on the lead vocal, you know? And I wanted to do a song that was the extreme opposite of that - where the vocals were just part of the music, and not just a platform for this guy."

The painting on the album cover is Netherlandish Proverbs by Pieter Bruegel the Elder (1525-1569). This humorous portrait of peasant life depicts around 100 literal renditions of Flemish proverbs of the day. Robin Pecknold explained to Q magazine August 2008 why they chose this particular piece of art for the album cover: "I like it because it's very bucolic and pretty at first glance, but there's all this weird stuff going on-fires, people defecating coins, guys shearing pigs, dogs playing cards with chickens. It gets more disturbing the more you look at it- a pretty good analogy for our music."