Staff Reviews

Andrew Bird - My Finest Work Yet

Review by Joey Rabchuk

A piece of masterful craftsmanship tucked snugly into the singer-songwriter tradition»

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Internationally acclaimed multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter Andrew Bird releases My Finest Work Yet via Loma Vista / Concord. My Finest Work Yet finds Bird grappling with themes of current day dichotomies and how to identify a moral compass amidst such divisive times. “I’m interested in the idea that our enemies are what make us whole—there’s an intimacy one shares with their opponent when locked in such a struggle. If we were to just walk away would our enemies miss us? How did we get to this point and how can we, through awareness of it, maybe pull ourselves out of this death spiral,” says Bird.

Tongue-in-cheek album titles aside, Bird tackles these topics with a more direct songwriting approach than his previous releases, taking greater risks both lyrically and in recording. Bird and the band taped all the songs live without headphones or separation attempting to create a sound where all instruments bled into each other’s microphones. Of the new music, Bird reflects, “There is a certain optimism to this record…it’s pretty up musically though it doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the lyrics.” Produced by Paul Butler (The Bees, Michael Kiwanuka), My Finest Work Yet was recorded at Barefoot Recordings in Los Angeles, CA.description from www.roughtrade.com