With their debut, Bowerbirds emerged as a great new hope for tree-hugging folk, melodies strong enough to count Bon Iver a fan and mate, prose pithy enough for John Darnielle's endorsement. The culmination of their aesthetic then was this devastatingly poetic video for the devastatingly poetic gypsy folk of "In Our Talons," an environmentalist elegy which spoke direly and ended ambiguously: "We're only human; this at least we've learned."
"Northern Lights," the lead single from their forthcoming LP Upper Air, is as good or better than anything on that debut. Lyricist and singer Phil Moore has in fact learned he's human after all; he's in a band with his partner (Beth Tacular), the earth can wait a minute, this song is for her. "I don't need from you a waterfall of careless praise / and I don't need a trophy for all the games I play / But all I want is your eyes in the morning as we wake for a short while." I mean, it is a Bowerbirds song, so it's not like there's no reference to nature (he needs the grass to sway, he needs the wind on his face), but it's subjugated in service of a more personal love, and a more real take on it: this is the anti-What Have You Done For Me Lately, it's a response to pop-tart chart toppers. This is a real love song.
Bowerbirds - "Northern Lights" (MP3)
Upper Air is out 6/7 (6/6 in the UK) via Dead Oceans. The cover looks like this:
These are the tour dates, all with Megafaun (they used to tour with Justin Vernon, so they've got this whole DeYarmond Edison thing on lock down):
07/06 - Washington, DC @ Black Catw/ Megafaun
07/07 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda'sw/ Megafaun
07/10 - Providence, RI @ Club Hellw/ Megafaun
07/11 - Northampton, MA @ Iron Horse Music Hallw/ Megafaun
07/12 - Cambridge, MA @ TT The Bear's Placew/ Megafaun
07/13 - Montreal QC, Canada @ La Sala Rossaw/ Megafaun
07/14 - Toronto ON, Canada @ Sneaky Deesw/ Megafaun
07/15 - Cleveland, OH @ Beachland Tavernw/ Megafaun
07/16 - Pontiac, MI @ The Pike Room at The Crofootw/ Megafaun
07/17 - Indianapolis, IN @ Vollrath Tavernw/ Megafaun
07/20 - Iowa City, IA @ The Millw/ Megafaun
07/21 - Minneapolis, MN @ 7th St. Entryw/ Megafaun
07/22 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdownw/ Megafaun
07/26 - Denver, CO @ Hi Divew/ Megafaun
07/27 - Salt Lake City, UT @ Kilby Courtw/ Megafaun
07/29 - Vancouver BC, Canada @ The Biltmore Cabaretw/ Megafaun
07/30 - Seattle, WA @ Triple Doorw/ Megafaun
07/31 - Anacortes, WA @ Department of Safetyw/ Megafaun
08/01 - Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studiosw/ Megafaun
08/03 - San Francisco, CA @ Cafe du Nordw/ Megafaun
08/04 - Los Angeles, CA @ The Echow/ Megafaun
08/05 - San Diego, CA @ Casbahw/ Megafaun
08/06 - Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Roomw/ Megafaun
08/10 - Tucson, AZ @ Club Congressw/ Megafaun
08/12 - Denton, TX @ Hailey'sw/ Megafaun
08/13 - Austin, TX @ The Mohawkw/ Megafaun
08/14 - Houston, TX @ Walter's On Washingtonw/ Megafaun
08/15 - New Orleans, LA @ One Eyed Jacksw/ Megafaun
08/16 - Birmingham, AL @ The Bottletreew/ Megafaun
08/17 - Atlanta, GA @ The Earlw/ Megafaun
