Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers team up for new track
Andrew Bird and Phoebe Bridgers have come together to share a reworked version of Emily Dickinson’s poem ‘I felt a Funeral, in my Brain’. Meanwhile, Bird has announced the new rescheduled date for his London show at O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire on February 19th 2023.
Both Bird and Bridgers take turns reciting the verses composed of Dickinson’s words. The track mostly explores – like much of Dickinson’s work – the inner workings of the mind. In several ways, this is also the wish of Bird, whose new album Inside Problems attempts to tackle the inner demons within.
The press release for the Bridgers collaboration reads: “soundtracking the inner demons that run amok when things get quiet: whistles echo in from a faraway realm, bass lines mirror the poem’s allusions to beating drums and boots of lead, while otherworldly sounds and a ghostly pizzicato transport the track to a liminal space.”
Discussing the track, Bird said: “I came across this Emily Dickinson poem and found it to be the most vivid description of an inner world I’ve ever encountered. It became an inspiration for the songs on Inside Problems. Who better to sing it with than Phoebe Bridgers?”
He continued: “I sent her a demo and so, here we are. Thanks to Ms. Dickinson’s publisher at Harvard University Press for allowing us to use this poem. As I understand, her poems weren’t published as she intended them until the 1950s – that is, without the heavy hand of her male editors.”
This year, Bird’s first tour in three years had him playing ‘Make a Picture’ and the Joan Didion-inspired ‘Atomized’ to several audiences at sold-out shows across Europe and in the United States, including the Greek Theatre, Red Rocks, NYC’s Pier 17 and Chicago’s Salt Shed. Bird also performed sessions on CBS Saturday Morning, NPR’s Tiny Desk and KCRW.
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