Is Myspace Dead? I sure hope not because that's how I found out about a folk duo known as the Bowerbirds. Bowerbirds are composed of guitarist/lead crooner Phil Moore with vocal harmonies, accordion, bass drum, and piano provided by Beth Tacular; along with sometimes multi-instrumentalist Matt Damron (who replaced their previous jack-of-all-tradesman Mark Paulson).
Their second album Upper Air was released during the summer of 2009 and it can best be described as a direct follow up to debut album Hymns of a Dark Horse. It doesn't mark any radical changes in sound or composition but rather provides some more of the beautiful vocal harmonies, innovocative nature imagery, and stellar songwriting that fans of the band have come to love. Opening the album with the calmly stated and almost lackadaisical "One morning you wake to find you are shackled to your bed and bound and gagged/Oh my, what a predicament" of lead song "House of Diamonds" you're not exactly sure what to expect from the song or album in general but the somewhat shocking open and calm delivery of what should be a frantic realization merely helps to illustrate the song's message: That even though you're captured with no hope of escape by the devices of man, in a sense you're free of them as well. No longer having to worry about material possessions, upholding social norms, the list goes on and on. Other songs worth mentioning are "Beneath Your Tree" with a disarming and emotion-invoking conveyance of opening verse "I could bleed, bleed, bleed for days but my heart would still beat for you, dear" and single track "Northern Lights" which manages to combine lovely nature images with simple desires of love. Lyrics like these are a staple of this album and coupled with sometimes sparse arrangements seem to create an overarching theme of simplicity.
I've included the video for Northen Lights (shot by Matt Amato) here for your listening and viewing pleasure. Enjoy!:
Bowerbirds "Northern Lights" from matt amato on Vimeo.
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