Imitosis Squared : One Step Closer to Greatness
Andrew Bird is certainly a talented musician. On this, his most accomplished record, he again defies genre by mixing sound elements to such a degree that any sense of his past musical achievements is at once altered in one swoop. The great part about this entire endeavor is that despite Andrews' growth as a musician, he pays extra attention to his lyrics. To say that his lyrics are glorious is an understatement - in fact, they are epic poems of their own, and being set to music is just one part of the magical ride Bird takes us on here.
I especially enjoyed album opener "Fiery Crash". In so many ways, this record made me realize how close to Sean Lennon and Devendra Banhart this sort of music really is. Bird is definitely more prosaic than either of those two artists, but musically he is still not yet adventurous enough, and comparing him to Banhart at this stage is possibly unfair.
"Heretics", a long-winding, mind-bending track is the best known song from this album, but it didn't pack quite such a punch upon first listen. I would have to go with the indie-folk pastorals such as "Armchairs" and "Simple X" for a true understanding of the kind of music Bird is capable of.
For listeners who don't yet know what Bird sounds like, heres a breakdown. He has a mellow, light and feathery voice (yet masculine in every way), set to melancholic, orchestral music, with indie-rock elements to it. Much of the instrumentation can be called 'folk', if we must, but like Rufus Wainwright, its hard to box Bird down.
What remains long after you listen to this album, is Andrew's stunning lyrics. What a poet this man is. Here is a sample, from a track called "Spare Ohs":
"The finches and sparrows they nest
Watch only what remains of small flowers,
birds that you failed to protect
But the yoke isn't easy, in fact it's a drag
has it blown to cornfields
and mountains of rice"
Imagery, as you can tell, is Andrew's forte, but he is also quite excellent at sounding like some sort of futuristic scientist from outer space, especially on his songs regarding the human condition, and mortality. Indeed, his sordid fascination with death and the human spirit being extinguished is quite perturbing upon first blush, but a closer inspection reveals a thing of great beauty.
Case in point - a lyric from "Dark Matter":
"When I was just a little boy
I threw away all of my action toys
I became obsessed with operation
Hearts and minds and certain glands
You got to learn to keep a steady hand
And thus began my morbid fascination"
At least the above sample is simple, clear and direct in the message it intends communicating. Its when Bird gets all Trent Reznor in his indirect lyrics to us, that the album really takes life. On "Imitosis", he uses the example of a doctor in a research lab to drive home the point that no amount of human togetherness can actually exterminate our actual condition as lonely and needy beings.
"Poor Professor Pension had only good intentions
When he put his Bunsen burners all away and turned
Into a playground a petri dish of single cells that would swing
Their fists at anything that looks like easy prey
Nature show that rages every day it was bound,
a part his intuition says
We were all basically alone"
There you go, dear reader. It would be too easy to call this an "album for intellectuals". On one hand, you could actually enjoy it from beginning to end without once paying attention to the lyrics (the music IS that strong). On the other, you can strip away the music and let the lyrics shine on their own. Melded together, the two become a potent force, and perhaps this is the reason why the album resonated so well with me - it is indeed very difficult to make an album of this magnitude. And I especially respect the singer who lyrics match the mood of the music he is composing. On these fronts, Bird gets a full five stars.
However, the entire tone of the album IS rather depressing. There is literally no 'upbeat' song, or one that speaks of hope or faith. There is a dark, gothic element to Andrew's music, which works on its' own terms, but with a voice as stark and clear as his, I wouldn't mind some more varied and hopeful subject matter the next time around. Andrew should lighten up a bit and experiment a bit more in the studio - we'd all be excited to listen to those results!
Finally, this is definitely a 'thinking mans' album, and clearly one of the albums of the year. In fact, I personally think this is the best album of the year in terms of songwriting and poetry. And also, this is NOT pretentious poetry of the undecipherable Sylvia Plath variety (granted she has an audience, but some of her poetry is just unbearable and incomprehensible to me). For those of us born in the 1970s who have a yen for things like this, Birds' CD comes as a welcome surprise, and the best news of all is that it holds up on repeat listening.
If you're new to Andrew Bird, I'd say this - Believe the Hype. If you want to branch out and experiment just one indie artists' music this year, let it be this one. Don't let it pass you by, as its' riches are just too vast and mesmerizing to ignore. Literature students and writers, you might want to check this out as well.
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