Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird
Armchair Apocrypha
[4/5]

On his tenth studio album, Bird returns with his power-packed arsenal of fine-tuned instruments and cleaver lyrics. The emotion pours out of his instruments like rain drops falling from the sky. The spell-binding piano chords, mourning violins, quirky snare drums, and aqueous guitars combine to form a majestic Sujfan Stevens-ish phenomenon. Although Armchair Aprocrpha is a powerful record, it is not quite as breakthrough as The Mysterious Production of Eggs. The booming optimism that made The Mysterious Production of Eggs such a success is more subtle on this album. His floral arrangement of lyrics is critical and melancholy; a style that takes several listens to get accustomed to. My only other complaint is the lack of abundance of his signature whistles. Those whistles were so damn catchy.