Erin Mckeown - We Will Become Like Birds

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 29 / 8 / 2005

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Review

There was so much genre hopping on her previous three critically acclaimed albums that at times I was hoping that Erin McKeown would make complete albums of each musical base she touched upon. A stand alone album of the pop/jazz she excels at would have been nice. Another concentrating on her forays into New Wave would also have been excellent, as would yet another highlighting her pure pop leanings. With ‘We Will Become Like Birds’, McKeown has, for this album at least, delivered 12 excellent songs which fall neatly into the bright and breezy folk pop category. It was something of a surprise on first hearing this album, almost totally unexpected, in fact, that there was no mishmash of musical styles. This could be due to a number of factors ; McKeown handles all the guitars this time round but little else ( although she has proven in the past she is more than capable of tackling most instruments) and recruited a band which includes names like Matt Chamberlain (Tori Amos, Fiona Apple), Steve Moore (Laura Veirs) and Sebastian Steinberg (Beth Orton). It might be because the album was recorded in New Orleans (albeit in a former mental institution) a place that McKeown feels is “both a hugely sad and an ultimately joyful place” which is also how she sees this album. Or it could be the excellent production skills of Tucker Martine (Jim White, Bill Frisell, the Walkabouts) that have kept McKeown’s genre hopping in check and by doing so have helped to make the 27 year old singer songwriter's best album by far. McKeown’s lyrics have attracted a lot of attention in the past. Usually that’s when the "McKeown has a bachelor’s degree in ethnomusicology from Brown University" line comes in. To be honest this album has been on constant rotation round these parts for a good few weeks now and apart from a few lines which register after a few plays, I’ve still yet to discover what the album is about lyrically. Images of space and flight are occasionally brought to mind and I’ve a sneaking feeling that some songs deal with the age old themes of a broken relationship but the reason the lyrics have taken a back seat this time is that the sun has been shining since this album arrived and these lovely, sunny melodies played by musicians who sound like they have been together forever have been the soundtrack playing in the background during these last few dying weeks of the summer. How many albums stripped of vocals (especially when the writer is as talented as McKeown is when it comes to lyrics) would we want to listen to more than once out of curiosity? I can honestly say that this album is so strong musically McKeown could have almost released it as an instrumental album. Shorn of any vocals the album still covers all human emotions, especially those felt as the nights start getting darker and a sense of loss of another summer ending start creeping in. It’s all here, from the first feelings of joy and hope at the start of the summer to those times when the sadness begins that those chillier days in early September bring in. The bonus is, of course, that those long, dark nights to come will bring with them the time to study the lyrical content of the album and then rediscover the songs for a second time. I’ve a feeling that during those nights McKeown’s words about the album being sad and joyful will ring true. For the most part these melodies have a feel good factor about them, but those few lyrics which have registered so far suggest that the breezy melodies might be covering some heartbreaking tales. It’s not often that an established artist can take a different turn four albums in and make such a success of it that the highlight of their previous albums (the lyrics) has yet to be revealed after so long. But because this album is just so strong musically and there is so much to be discovered with each listen a more thorough look at the lyrics is something to look forward to when those long winter nights arrive. In the meantime those glorious melodies are more than enough for this album to be highly recommended and if McKeown is a new name to you, this is definitely the best place to start to discover the talents of this Massachusetts-based singer songwriter.

Track Listing:-

1 Aspera
2 Air
3 Life on the Moon
4 To the Stars
5 Beautiful - I Guess
6 Float
7 We Are More
8 White City
9 The Golden Dream
10 Bells and Bombs
11 Delicate December
12 You Were Right About Everything
13 A Certain Pleasure (Bonus Track)

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