It may not be the Christmas season quite yet, but Andrew Bird is getting a head start with the arrival of a new holiday EP.
HARK! arrives today through Loma Vista and features Bird originals "Alabaster" and "Night's Falling" alongside seasonal standards "Oh Holy Night," "White Christmas" and Vince Guaraldi's "Skating."
You can hear the six-track release below or here via the service of your choice.
In a statement, Bird explained he felt the impulse to make a holiday record last February, in large part due to Guaraldi's aforementioned composition:
I found myself enjoying the Vince Guaraldi Peanuts records and thought I'd book a few days in the studio. It was an excuse to play some classic jazz with my favourite musicians. A lot of folks have a hard time with the holidays but they serve a purpose to us as a people — to create comfort, warmth and atmosphere within the darkness and the cold that can crush one's spirit. There are a couple originals in here that address this idea of light and warmth in the darkness as well as some classics that have some nostalgic resonance with me. Hark! What sounds come flowing alabaster?
Bird released My Finest Work Yet earlier this year, and was recently cast in a forthcoming season of Fargo.
HARK! arrives today through Loma Vista and features Bird originals "Alabaster" and "Night's Falling" alongside seasonal standards "Oh Holy Night," "White Christmas" and Vince Guaraldi's "Skating."
You can hear the six-track release below or here via the service of your choice.
In a statement, Bird explained he felt the impulse to make a holiday record last February, in large part due to Guaraldi's aforementioned composition:
I found myself enjoying the Vince Guaraldi Peanuts records and thought I'd book a few days in the studio. It was an excuse to play some classic jazz with my favourite musicians. A lot of folks have a hard time with the holidays but they serve a purpose to us as a people — to create comfort, warmth and atmosphere within the darkness and the cold that can crush one's spirit. There are a couple originals in here that address this idea of light and warmth in the darkness as well as some classics that have some nostalgic resonance with me. Hark! What sounds come flowing alabaster?
Bird released My Finest Work Yet earlier this year, and was recently cast in a forthcoming season of Fargo.