All Class

Noble Beast
Andrew Bird
Fat Possum, 2009
4 stars

Damn this guy makes it hard to write a ‘critical’ review of his albums. I really got into his last album Armchair Apocrypha but, I have to say, I think this one is even better. More late-afternoon than late-night in tone, Noble Beast is an autumnal set of organic, whistle-laced posh-rock, full of Bird’s stunning instrumentation, Jeff Buckley-esque vocals and cryptic lyricism. If Armchairs was the standout on Armchair Apocrypha, then Anonanimal is the key track here – a delicate slow-builder of a pop song, in three parts. Noble Beast is the kind of album that demands to be played loud through a pair of obnoxiously large headphones - the beauty really lies in the layers of detail. Another great album from Mr Bird.

Artwork: B+
A nice digipak, with some pics of Andrew getting back to the bush. The relatively boring cover shot doesn't do the photography justice though - open up the digipak and it's actually a really nice landscape. As far as the feel of the photos goes, it matches the album perfectly.

Published in mX, Thursday February 5, 2009.