Andrew Bird, Break It Yourself (Bella Union) *** (From York Press)
Get in touch: send your photos, videos, news & views by texting YORK to 80360 or send an email»
Andrew Bird, Break It Yourself (Bella Union) ***
1:22pm Friday 6th April 2012 in CD reviews By Paul Rhodes
LOVINGLY arranged and almost smelling of sea-spray with its ocean themes, Bird’s latest opus has an increasingly distinctive sound.
It is cerebral stuff, peppered with lovely violin accents and some trademark whistling. Sadly, it’s less accessible than his previous career-best Noble Beast. Melodically it feels a bit samey, which is a shame as his singing and lyrics improve on previous records; being less opaque and more direct.
The album also drags towards the end and should have been more judiciously pruned; getting bogged down in slow affairs that seem to lead nowhere. Other reviewers have likened it to Van Morrison’s Astral Weeks – a stretch – but it does share some of that questing spirit.
The almost garage pop of Eyeoneye and the beguiling Danse Carribe are perhaps the best fruits of this particular ocean-saga.
