“Uh Huh” stands tall as Bird’s version of The White Stripes’ “Fell In Love With a Girl”. Brief, rapidly paced, and ripping, it contains all the ingredients for an indie rock hit. It even properly squeezes in a some fun complaints Bird has against her ex for getting used by his new girlfriend. Bird is certainly not the type of sadgirl songwriter who sits at her bedroom window with a guitar lamenting about her ex. Instead, she’s the type who’d scream in his face in the middle of the school hallway and not feel a sense of shame about it.

The album clearly succeeds at its loudest. Another energetic track is “Love Has All Been Done Before”, a tale of Bird’s romantic skepticism. Simply put, she appreciates the nice guy who’s into her, but she doesn’t bother to see far into any relationship. It’s one of the many songs on here elevated by Bird’s roaring vocals commanding the chorus.

Bird doesn’t need to put her acoustic guitar on steroids to make good songs, though. Her pen emanates a series of run-ins with less-than-admirable guys, like when she’s singing to her drunk boyfriend on “Going Gone”. “If you go down, you won’t get up again”, she demands to her inebriated beau when he craves some drunk sex. It’s lines like these and the raging vocals of other songs that set up Bird as a takes-no-sh*t kind of person, an entertaining character to hear from. Because of this, her more vulnerable moments seem out of place, like the sappy “Does Anybody Know”.

“The noisier, the better” appears to be the key to success for the British songwriter. The frenetic “I Get No Joy” packs even more punch to the impressive production, making the handful of softer tunes restrictive to Bird, as they don’t do much more than squander utilizing her lively voice and guitar. Still, Jade Bird’s debut is a promising leap into the young artist’s career, and her catalogue will improve thanks to the multiple roof-raisers.

SCAD Radio gives it an 8.1/10.

The post Jade Bird’s Debut Is Loud & Energetic, But Not As Much As It Should Be appeared first on SCAD Radio.

Although Bird has been politically active in the past, some of the lyrics on this latest album, My Finest Work Yet, are explicitly about the divisiveness of politics in America. The second track “Bloodless” directly takes on this issue. Bird’s perspective is, as per usual, perceptive, but his words lack their usual grace and metaphor that he’s so famous for. At points they almost seem awkward, like in the bridge where he points out that “…it feels like 1936/ In Catalonia”. It’s an apt comparison, but it hardly fits into the song. Despite these lyrical flaws, the melody and sound are very coy and smooth–they bring to mind the image of a detective in a noir film, slinking around in a trench coat while it rains.

“Bloodless” is perhaps the closest relation in terms of sound to Bird’s previous release, Are You Serious, which featured the first songs Bird had written about his wife and son on top of some beautiful, detailed, and sometimes jazz-infused tracks. The rest of My Finest Work Yet strays pretty far from the path that Are You Serious seemed to put Bird down. He’s back to writing intellectual lyrics filled with wordplay, which is perhaps something that longtime fans will enjoy. The thing that makes the album fall somewhat flat in parts is the choice to go with a more folk-indie style of instrumentation.

Typically, Bird’s music is characterized by creativity and innovation. He made his name in part by creating intricate and fully fleshed out songs with violin, vocal, and whistle loops. It’s a little bit disappointing to see him go in the direction of typical and overdone indie. Songs like “Sisyphus”, “Manifest”, and “Bellevue Bridge Club” exemplify this style.

It’s not to say that these songs are bad or unenjoyable: there’s still a lot of tender love and care put into these tracks, and both “Sisyphus” and “Manifest” have some of the best lyrics on the album. It’s easy to hear the ease with which Bird approaches melody–at this point, it’s basically a second language for him. But you just might find yourself skipping these tracks after a couple of listens.

“Fallorun” is one of the highlights on the album: the distorted violin adds a lot of atmosphere, and the driving drums and plucked melody keep the song in a constant state of forward motion and give it an intense build that ebbs and flows. “Don The Struggle” is another one that brings a great amount of energy and heart to the table along with a narrative little message about mistakes made by those who won’t have to face the consequences.

Unfortunately, My Finest Work Yet doesn’t exactly live up to its facetious title. Despite its inconsistency on a song to song basis, it does provide a cohesive experience overall with some interesting themes to boot. Although it may not be the summit of Andrew Bird’s career, it’s a reflection of how difficult it is to encapsulate the struggles of the time we live in while packing a punch. Bird even brings this up: how do we fight a war with words without it bleeding out into actual violence? Where’s the line?

It’s certainly not something that this album solves, but at least it’s a nice soundtrack to put on while you’re pondering such heavy topics.

SCAD Radio gives this album a 7.25/10.

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