“I wish I could have the mind of a 60-year-old and the body—and energy—of a 25-year-old,” Robin Pecknold told Noisey in an interview published earlier this week. Now beardless, but still writing mystical, folk-inflected indie, Pecknold’s not as far away from that ideal as he might think with the band releasing their third studio album, Crack-Up, yesterday after a five-year break. The band took one half of album centerpiece “Third of May / Ōdaigahara” to Colbert last night, and Pecknold sounded every bit as clear and curious as he does on record, staring out into the studio audience as though he was staring into the goddamned beyond, standing in front of some faux-stained-glass set dressing. Watch the performance in full at the top of the page.
Alex Robert Ross has the mind of a 25-year-old and the body—and energy—of a 60-year-old. Follow him on Twitter.