Pick four songs from any band and you can tell a lot about their sound. This summer, I’m featuring #RockBlocks, four picks from bands across various genres. They might be wildly different from each other, but what binds them together is the fact that they’re all a part of my life soundtrack.
Andrew Bird’s music primarily resides in an acoustic world filled with strings, guitars, vocals and his trademark whistle. It’s a world that I escape to often. Lyrically, Bird’s songwriting had been cryptic by default for many years, but by the time Are You Serious came out, Bird got married and his lyrics became more personal. “Truth Lies Low” reflected this significant shift as well as a departure from his natural musical tendencies.
I’ve seen Bird play “Truth Lies Low” twice — once at Brooklyn Steel, once at Terminal 5. The one thing that was clear from both performances is that the song established a different vibe each time, ushering the audience into a different musical realm. The song starts out sounding more like Toro y Moi than Andrew Bird. It has these gorgeous, moody, muted synthesizer sounds and are later joined by a set of sparse guitar riffs. It’s not the typical formula for Bird, but it has become one of my favorite tracks from his last five years.
“So here's another game you can play along where you empty all your blame from your guilty bones.”