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| Check out the short film created for Andrew Bird's new Inside Problems album along his recent virtual session for The Current. |
Here's the scoop...
On his new album, Inside Problems (out now via Loma Vista Recordings), Andrew Bird acknowledges all of the complex thoughts, questions and middle-of-the-night obsessions swirling around in each of us. Inside Problems is a collection of eleven original songs that take on those inner demons that run amok when things get especially quiet. It’s a lush and rousing entry to his acclaimed, constantly evolving and perennially curious career.
For Bird, the idea that kept coming back to haunt him was the unavoidable presence of thresholds: the moment when something becomes something else, when somewhere becomes somewhere else. The phenomenon appears in endless aspects of daily life, from the process of projecting internal feelings and dialogue to the outside environment, or the seemingly mundane experience of standing in the frame of the doorway, crossing state lines or any place where one is neither here nor there, but in between. These are the questions that course through the Inside Problems - where is the threshold, who are we during the moments in between?
“You just don’t know what’s under the surface, be it the land, the sea, our skin,” says Bird. “You could be whistling away, projecting contentedness, when really there’s a swirling twisted mess underneath. Looking up, there’s the knowable universe but unless you get into astrology, you’ll find the stars don’t owe us anything and you’re left less assured than when we thought gods threw down lightning bolts. Underlands introduces an album that deals with the unseen underneath and the membrane that separates your outside problems from your inside problems.”
Dive deeper into Bird’s mind in an enigmatic album presentation film (below).
Produced by Mike Viola and recorded live by Bird and his four-piece band - some of the only overdubs being additional vocals from Madison Cunningham - Inside Problems “transports listeners to a lush musical world” (NPR Music). From cracking the Billboard Top 10 on Break It Yourself, to earning his first Grammy nomination for 2019's My Finest Work Yet, to acting in Fargo, scoring Judd Apatow’s new Netflix film, The Bubble, and more, Bird's career has been defined by a relentless pursuit of salvaging perfection from spontaneous decisions. Inside Problems extends that arc, manifesting not only the questions that keep him from his sleep, but the radical fight against stasis. The spirit is reflected in the method of tracking the music all together and straight to tape, when creative decisions and the crossing of thresholds are captured in real time, creating a sonic energy that is intimate, visceral and unpredictable.
Bird adds: “I have so much fun taking my ideas apart before they really have defined themselves as distinct songs, when they’re still in that amoeba-like state. I love the feeling of chasing ideas and having them split off and go hang out with another idea and then butting them up against each other to see if they talk to each other.”
Bird can also be seen in new documentary, Really Good Rejects, which premiered at SXSW and follows LA luthier, Reuben Cox, who made the rare, rubber-bridged guitar that begins Underlands, influencing much of Inside Problems with an indescribable sound.
Following the release of Inside Problems, Bird will embark on Outside Problems, his first full-band tour in nearly three years. Co-headlined with Iron & Wine and added support from Allison Russell, Meshell Ndegeocello and Neko Case, the extensive run of shows will stretch from coast-to-coast, including sold out stops at Colorado’s Red Rocks and Chicago’s brand new Salt Shed, as well as performances at Los Angeles' Greek Theatre, Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, New York City's Pier 17 but unfortunately, no Toronto date as yet.
You can get Inside Problems right here. Watch the short film for Inside Problems and check out Andrew's virtual session for The Current following the track listing.
Andrew Bird – Inside Problems
1. Underlands
2. Lone Didion
3. Fixed Positions
4. Inside Problems
5. The Night Before Your Birthday
6. Make a Picture
7. Atomized
8. Faithless Ghost
9. Eight
10. Stop n’ Shop
11. Never Fall Apart
UPCOMING TOUR DATES
6/12 - Phoenix, AZ - The Van Buren*
6/13 - San Diego, CA - The Magnolia*
6/15 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre*
6/17 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre*
6/18 - Portland, OR - Pioneer Courthouse Square*
6/19 - Seattle, WA - Woodland Park Zoo* - SOLD OUT
6/21 - Salt Lake City, UT - TBA*
6/22 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre^ - SOLD OUT
6/23 - Aspen, CO - Belly Up Aspen
7/10 - Paris, FR - Days Off Festival w/ L'Orchestre national d'Île-de-France
7/12 - Lyon, FR - Les Nuits de Fourvières Festival w/ L'Orchestre national de Lyon
7/14 - Munich, DE - Neue Theaterfabrik
7/15 - Berlin, DE - Metropol
7/16 - Utrecht, NL - TivoliVredenburg Grote Zaal
7/17 - Köln, DE - Gloria Theater
7/19 - London, UK - O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
7/22 - Atlanta, GA - Pullman Yards#
7/23 - Asheville, NC - Rabbit Rabbit#
7/24 - Nashville, TN - Ryman Auditorium#
7/25 - Cary, NC - Koka Booth#
7/27 - Charlottesville, VA - Ting Pavilion#
7/28 - Vienna, VA - Wolf Trap#
7/29 - New York, NY - Pier 17#
7/30 - New Haven, CT - Westville Bowl#
7/31 - Bethlehem, PA - Steel Stacks#
8/02 - LaFayette, NY - Beak & Skiff#
8/04 - Cincinnati, OH - PNC Pavilion at Riverbend#
8/05 - Grand Rapids, MI - TBA#
8/06 - Indianapolis, IN - TCU Amphitheater#
8/08 - Pittsburgh, PA - Stage AE#
8/09 - Columbus, OH - KEMBA Live!#
8/10 - St Louis, MO - Chesterfield Amphitheater#
8/12 - Chicago, IL - Salt Shed# - SOLD OUT
8/13 - Minneapolis, MN - Surly#
*w/ Iron & Wine and Allison Russell
^w/ Iron & Wine and Neko Case
#w/ Iron & Wine and Meshell Ndegeocello
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