Bird’s ‘Beast’ is anything but beastly
“Noble Beast”
Andrew Bird, $14.98
It’s like taking a drive just after dawn in the springtime, when the sky is saturated with yellow sunlight, filtered through a sweet mist in the air. That’s what “Oh No,” the first track on Andrew Bird’s new album, makes me think of. A bright whistle tags alongside light licks on the guitar. Wait around for a bit, and you’ll get a subtle helping of handclaps. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but handclaps almost always solidify a song’s place in my heart. It can’t be explained.
“Noble Beast” continues with the handclappy mood on “Fitz and the Dizzyspells” but also offers up some more somber-sounding efforts such as “Not a Robot, But a Ghost,” which enlists a slight Latin vibe beneath its English-folk cover.
Bird outdoes himself on “Effigy,” which, despite its lack of handclaps, stands out as the strongest melody on the record, far as my ears are concerned. Here, he offers hints of Celtic flavors in the mix.
Bird doesn’t ever completely settle into one genre, and that’s perhaps what makes his music ever so appealing.