Bird flies high yet again

One reason I’ve always idolized Andrew Bird is that after 20 or so albums, EPs and other compilations, rarely does he produce something similar to the last. The iconic songwriter, violinist, vocalist, looper, whistler and glockenspiel player is a man of many faces, including ambient instrumental, new-age folk, swanky pre-war jazz, traditional American Creole and tactfully looped rock violin.

A musician without a single identity in music is hard to come by these days, and his versatility has always served him. “Break It Yourself,” though, sends Bird back to his roots in eerie, ambient folk, though slightly referential to his last success in “Noble Beast.”

As disappointing as the repeat is, Bird does what he does best with cheerful whistle solos and so-happy-you-could-die beats in “Danse Caribe” and “Orpheo Looks Back.” He still maintains a balance with reflective instrumentals such as “Behind The Barn” and slow, beautiful stories in “Sifters.”

Andrew Bird never ceases to amaze, and though this album is nothing out of the ordinary for him, that doesn’t rule it out as anything other than extraordinary.