Far Out Meets: Andrew Bird asking, “Is each of us an island or are we more like Finland?”
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Credit: Press
Andrew Bird delivers sweet music while mortals sleep on ‘Inside Problems’
An orbiting moon replaces the handsome head of Andrew Bird for the visualiser that accompanies the opening track of his latest album Inside Problems. It’s a mark of three years’ worth of consideration that even this decision seems to have been borne from the same line of introspective catharsis that pours from the record like spiritual sap oozing from a tree when nightfall descends.
These tracks breathe the evening air. They are Bird’s attempt to order the pillow-propped thoughts that swirl behind open eyes like space junk. As such they are sparse but amorphous and visceral—one instrument bleeds into the next just like the tumbling lyrical dominoes, and a solo that follows a muse down an alleyway arrives back at a tune that has changed in the meantime.
This gives the record a definite freshness. The cogitations on the album are interesting, organic and poetic—the holy triumvirate of original songwriting. Take, for instance, the line: “Is each of us an island or are we more like Finland?” Bird is proud of that one, and rightly so. After all, these relatable oddities are proof that passion and intent has spawned them.
As I mentioned in yesterday’s interview piece with the sagacious star: Outside of the greats, not many artists find themselves asking new questions over a quarter of a century into their recorded career. Platitudes are usually a preordained symptom of the lesser-known reverse of second album syndrome: the maudlin vicennial malady.
But Andrew Bird still eagerly catches the worm, defies the comfort of laurels, and comes up with new tricks. Most of all, his passion is self-evident. Why wouldn’t it be? Making music is pretty much a miracle – and that isn’t even flatulent – and Bird is still making some of the most beauteous around. His forthcoming album, Inside Problems, is a testimony of that.
And beyond that beauteous sound, there are moments where the floor can be pulled out from under you despite your casual stroll. As he explains in the press release: “You just don’t know what’s under the surface,” continuing, “You could be whistling away, projecting contentedness, when really there’s a swirling twisted mess underneath.” It’s the same with the tracks on the record, they are a muse unto themselves.
In this regard the album is similar to another of the year’s best records, Big Thief’s recent rollicking record, Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You. “I am a big fan of that album and I recognise a similar ethos,” Bird happily agrees. “That’s what I’m trying to do. It’s just live for the most part. Obviously, there are decisions being made but you can tell they’re just kind of going with it.”
Bird goes with it joyfully on a little stroll through the psyche and reflects this with a very naturalistic record. Admittedly, it isn’t a record that bristles or bops with anything too zapping or lulling on either end of the awe-inspiring spectrum. But there is depth to the pleasantry that will keep you coming back, and like star gazing itself, the longer you look the more things weave their way out of the blue-black sky.
You can check out Inside Problems below.
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