A Warm And Classic Record from Two Dark Birds
A new album released by Two Dark Birds brings forth such a warm set of tones that are delivered in a way that all feels almost like a strange dream, or like looking back on a past life. There is something about this release that is vaguely nostalgic in the strangest of ways
This is a record that displays a band who utilize their instruments to bring out a very rootsy style feel that brings elements of folk, classic rock, soul, and blues together to create something that has its own atmosphere and again, just seems so familiar.
A lot of it has to do with the keys, guitars, and vocals. Those three attributes of the record are so driving in terms of delivering this very beautiful and particular aesthetic. There's something that just feels like home about this record, and it happens right from the first track, "Girl of Summer".
The song gives off tones and makes you feel like you're right there in the room with the band as they're performing it in front of you.
The whole record gives you this feel. But this first track does an amazing job of opening up the door for the rest of this album.
You have to be ready for these homegrown, roots-style approaches, character-riddled and thriving with soul in different ways for each song.
The record is pulsing with gorgeous vocal harmonies and this welcoming tonality in the singing that complements the rest of the band amazingly.
Now, you also get hints of Americana along with that, especially in songs like "Born To Fall". But then you get this welcoming contemporary vibe with songs like "Sunbruise", which feels like some kind of lost Elvis Costello track.
This record is put together in a set of songs that invite you in. There are stories, personal approaches, inner thoughts, and history running throughout the veins of this record.
It's all done in such a unique way, but again, it just feels home. It feels like something that you've experienced yourself, and when you listen to the songs, there are certain parts where memories of your own just sort of pop in there.
Your head feeds into the stories because the lyrics can be so descriptive at times. The instrumentation really does an outstanding job of sending the mood for those lyrics as well, so everything falls together brilliantly.
What I would consider to be the most impressive and overwhelming songs on the record are actually the closing track called "The Song To End It All", which spans over 9 minutes in length and takes you on quite a musical journey.
This track, in particular, is very cinematic to me. There's a lot of emotion on it, although there's plenty of emotion on the full album, of course. Amazing aesthetic to it. It pulls you in lyrically with those details and the singer's outstanding way of articulating, but it also has a thick and a little bit more full-bodied sort of feel that reaches back to some of that southern approach in town, but still sticks more to a folk style.
Throughout all that, you have an orchestrated feeling string section that I think is done by way of synth pads and keys, but just feels big and lush.
The whole record has a sort of delicate undertone to it, and although some songs really have more of a brightness to them, an upbeat feel and swing, and a higher energy, most of the record is more about personalizing, humanizing, and giving you something that oozes personality left and right.
As I mentioned before, it's the storytelling that really locks you in. You get sort of swallowed up by a lot of this album, in a good way.
The closing track is a way of making things robust again. Bringing the record back to its roots and closing things out in a way that makes perfect sense.
It was all such a beautifully woven album from start to finish, and I suggest listening to the entire thing in one shot.
The full album is just under 40 minutes long and completely worth spending that time on it.
It's a great experience listening to the entire album as a whole.
So, jump into this one now, pop on some headphones, and kick back, listen to the stories, soak in the moods, flow with the emotion, and feel the soul.
