11/11/21:
Everywhere at once

Birdtalker opens up its second album with the ringing, full-throated "Right on Time,"" just the sort of lush, anthemic pop music that goes down quite easy with me. And then the album commences.



Birdtalker
Birdtalker
(Antifragile)


What follows is something that might be lazily described as shoegaze americana. There's a lot of folk instrumentation swirling around largely introspective pieces. To my surprise, I found this shift just as compelling. And as the rest of the album flowed in somewhere between those two poles, the more sense it made.

That is, Birdtalker is borrowing liberally from the country rock of the 70s, the indie pop of the 80s and the neo-folk revival of the 90s. All of that with a the aforementioned wide palette of instrumentation. It's an intoxicating mix, and the easy with which the band moves through its various influences is impressive.

Almost impossible to categorize, I'd suggest giving up on that sort of thing altogether. Birdtalker is making Birdtalker music, and I'm getting the feeling that each album will bring a different notion of what that might be. Artistic evolution? May it ever be so. Beauty that lies far beneath the skin.

Jon Worley


return to A&A home page