Andrew Bird is an artist of multiplicity and contrast. Nothing he produces is ever as easy as it sounds, though Bird makes it all seem effortless. His latest release, Noble Beast, is unapologetically candid, characterized best by his signature vocal hooks, intricate violin work and whistling.
Bird's fondness for layered simplicity and acoustic samples give his music an uncannily organic quality that he frames with intelligent rhetorical content. Noble Beast is without a doubt Bird's most ambitious work to date. Its grandeur makes Armchair Apocrypha and The Mysterious Production of Eggs sound almost sophomoric and incomplete. As far as musicianship goes, Noble Beast is at a level of its own. Sonic nonsense blends seamlessly with Bird's confident vocals and classically honed chops.
Distorted electric guitars and pristine acoustics butt heads to create a harmonious ambiance, the perfect cradle for the sparse yet integral percussion that quietly haunts the record. Noble Beast begins with the lazy Oh No"" and winds its way through almost an hour of astounding violin work, electronic looping and Bird's witticisms to arrive at ""On Ho!"" an instrumental bookend for the record.
""Masterswarm"" abrasively takes the torch from ""Oh No"" and begins as a quiet Delta blues stomp, but transitions to flamenco style guitar and percussion. Drummer and loop extraordinaire Martin Dosh lends his atmospheric talents, masterfully fitting the end of ""Masterswarm"" with a quiet electronic beat that keeps the album flowing.
Dosh's contributions are often overlooked because they fit so seamlessly into the artistic realm of Bird. Yet, Dosh contributed most of the music to Noble Beast's most interesting track, ""Not a Robot, but a Ghost."" The song begins with ominous clarinets hovering above the acoustic glitches of Dosh's percussion, then bridging into a sampled beat, it just accelerates from there. Bird croons over a terse guitar riff ""I crack the codes / And end the war."" With each verse, Dosh turns up the energy ultimately reaching the soaring chorus, consisting of bouncy piano and Bird's carefully constructed lyrical meditation on chaos and death. As usual, Bird's quirky lyrics help to contextualize his music and give it another layer beyond the notes.
The lyrical content of Noble Beast is both playful and existential. Bird tackles dense concepts, but assigns them to awkward or humorous situations so as to not bring down the pop qualities of his music. ""Anonanimal"" is the best example of how he plays with words. The song begins with the words ""See sea anemone / The enemy / See sea anemone,"" and it continues to morph until Bird sobers the lighthearted mood with ""this will be the end of me."" This contrast helps to frame the song as a whole while it escalates from a calm, wordy beginning to a pulsating end.
Most of the songs on Noble Beast follow this format. Bird is constantly changing moods and atmospheres within longer songs instead of chopping them up, which adds to the overall integrity of the record. Bird, who has released a record every two years since Music of Hair, consistently releases albums that showcase the absolute best of his talents.
Bird, like his songs, continues evolving. He does not branch out very far in new directions, but he is continually improving the quality of his music. Each record is just another layer like an instrument in one of his songs. As individual records they are eminent and individual, and as of right now, Noble Beast stands out the most.
