American indie rock singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Bird announced his new album Inside Problems along side the official audio for the album’s opening track “Underlands” on April 19, 2022. The album will be released on June 3 via Loma Vista Recordings, who have several heavy weights on their roster such as Robert Glasper, who recently performed for the 2022 Academy Awards and Korn, who released their 14th studio album Requiem on February 4, 2022.
“Underlands” is a chill, six minute groove guided by an interpolation of Otis Redding’s “Try A Little Tenderness”. The images pared with the official audio feature a cut out of Bird with a large moon replacing his head bouncing around the screen. The bridge slows the tempo, inserting sad strings and a spiraling musical interlude reminiscent of a 1950’s movie before picking back up with the juxtaposing jovial line, “Stars don’t owe you anything.”
Pitchfork reported that Bird recently appeared in the documentary Really Good Rejects; the film follows Los Angeles luthier Reuben Cox, who made the rare, rubber-bridged guitar Bird used to record “Underlands.”
As a teaser to his full-length release, Bird released a short film with the same title as his upcoming album, “Inside Problems.” Amassing over 7,000 views on YouTube the first day of its release, Bird’s short film features him alone moving around a screen of neutral colors as he performs a voice over monologue cut with soft, melodramatic instrumental interludes.
He starts the monologue with these opening words: “Well, in the way I figure there’s two types of problems in this world, inside problems and outside problems. And it’s all happening inside, no one is privy to it. I’m really confused, but ‘I’m really confused’ doesn’t make a very good chorus.” About 4 minutes into the video, a rope appears from the top of the screen and Bird’s thoughts take a dark turn as he talks about “a young adventurer, who’s curious what’s going on inside them and decides to perform surgery on himself.” This video hints at what fans can expect from the upcoming album, a deep dive into the dark thoughts of the mind from the viewpoint of a musician.
Check out the “Inside Problems” short film below:
Bird released the first single dance from Inside Problems on March 17, 2022 title “Atomized.” This upbeat track and accompanying video was said to “represents the mind and body’s connection, and their ability to not only work together, but also apart.”
Bird released collaboration album with Jimbo Mathus entitled “These 13” on March 5, 2021. Bird and Iron & Wine will embark on their “Outside Problems” Tour in the summer of 2022.
Inside Problems Track List:
01 Underlands
02 Lone Didion
03 Fixed Positions
04 Inside Problems
05 The Night Before Your Birthday
06 Make a Picture
07 Atomized
08 Faithless Ghost
09 Eight
10 Stop n’ Shop
11 Never Fall Apart
02 Lone Didion
03 Fixed Positions
04 Inside Problems
05 The Night Before Your Birthday
06 Make a Picture
07 Atomized
08 Faithless Ghost
09 Eight
10 Stop n’ Shop
11 Never Fall Apart
photo credit: Alyssa Fried
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