(photo: Cameron Wittig)

My first album review for online music magazine Twisted Ear was Andrew Bird’s 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha, and at the time I had this to say about the violin virtuoso’s fourth solo album:

…after twelve tracks, the gravitas can get a bit heavy.  Once experienced in its entirety, Armchair Apocrypha is a dish best served in stages of small, manageable chunks.  Song by song, it’s easy to become intoxicated by the lushness of Bird’s arrangements (as per album opener “Fiery Crash”).  He has a voice that takes little effort to enjoy, and when lyrics are as engaging and as literate as his, it feels more like you’re curling up with a good novel than a CD of songs.

If I were a lazy, slovenly sort of guy, I could just change the album title and song references above and pass this off as a review for his fifth solo album, Noble Beast, out today on Fat Possum.  Armchair… was my first real introduction to Bird’s work, and in the interim I have become an enthusiastic and voracious fan.  The only real stumbling block I have is that Bird’s unique songwriting style doesn’t vary often from song to song, so it sometimes becomes difficult to decipher individual tracks from your consciousness.  I still believe that in order to really appreciate each of his songs you need to experience them in isolation of others.

Noble Beast, upon initial listens, is different from its predecessor, in tone and texture if not style and substance.  Bird has opened the palette up a bit and incorporates more beats and modern flourishes (especially on the fluid groove of “Not a Robot, But a Ghost”) than he’s previously used.  He also sounds oddly content (or at the very least pleased with himself), even though lyrically he’s still exploring the mysterious corners of life, love, and the world around us.  What really marks Noble Beast as a creature of a different sort is its organic nature.  Bird still weaves complex narratives and structures into his songs, but they feel less forced and more natural here.  These songs have evolved as opposed to being shaped and created, and Bird has intelligently let nature do it’s thing.  Like most of his previous work, Noble Beast will reveal it’s beauty, strength and timeless appeal with repeated listens.

MP3: Andrew Bird “Fitz & Dizzyspells”
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Myspace: Andrew Bird
Buy: Andrew Bird Noble Beast