For the first time in a long while an album has left me speechless in describing its impact on me. About a year ago I tried my first Andrew Bird album Armchair Apocrypha, it didn't impress me. Hesitantly I approached this album expecting nearly the same thing, happily I was left completely flabbergasted. After one listen I didn't know what to think about this, "is this fantastic was I just happy at the time I listened to it?" So, I gave it another listen. I could contest that there was an audible "THUNK!" when it clicked. On that second listen I heard all the things the people around me were raved about. On that second listen I heard raw emotion in Andrew's voice. This is without a doubt a serious contender for my AotY. 4.5
Mr. Bird delivers just as expected (though with a little too much familiarity); intricate,
melodically rich folk rock. It's not quite as consistent or varied as "Eggs" or "Armchair"
but it's easily superior to Noble Beast. There's a few really awesome songs spread among a
bunch of solid, sometimes boring ones. The album is a tad too long, and overall a tad too
underwhelming, but a nice, delicate, chilled out listen with some great arrangements and
that signature whistling. There's a few duds here and there but "Lazy Projector" is easily
one of his best songs, and one of my favorite songs of the year so far. Though it seems like
Bird refuses to progress or shake things up, him dancing around in his comfort zone isn't
exactly a bad thing.
