Break It Yourself

Many sided talent of Andrew Bird

The Suzuki method appeared in the middle of the twentieth century. That unique method of the development of musical skills of children since the early age is really impressive: young musicians get the incredibly important skills and knowledge and fell in love with the music itself. Andrew Bird became another proof of the fact that the Suzuki method is effective. Bird’s debut record titled Music Of Hair saw the light in 1996 and it was a perfect demonstration of Andrew’s outstanding composing skills. He managed to combine in his creativity notes and attitudes of classic music, folk, jazz and blues. It is astonishing, but these distant from each other genres did sound quite harmonically altogether. Then Bird took part in some bands, but still he made his way to the solo career. That happened at the very beginning of the twenty-first century, in 2003, when Andrew released his great album Weather Systems. Obviously the musician found his inspiration in new sources at that period of life, and that would explain the strong transfer from the style of Bird’s debut long play. However listeners took Andrew’s new studio attempt really well, so that gave the artist a good portion of confidence. Since that time Bird released four more amazing records and managed to conquer many listeners’ hearts. By 2012 the talented performer prepared a fresh studio attempt that was titled Break It Yourself. So, how original is it?

Break It Yourself – fusion of genres

Andrew knows how to deal with various genres, and he enjoys the very process of mixing them up into one great musical cocktail. He had proved not even once that he had always been good at these kinds of experiments. Well, Break It Yourself proved to be a new proving ground for Bird’s creative exploration. The album is opened by a delicate composition Desperation Breeds..., which acts perfectly as an introduction to the whole long play. The string instruments and of course Andrew’s violin create amazing melodiousness. Danse Carribe can proudly present a great attitude and mood, where the notes of folk are quite distinctive. One cannot argue that the combination of guitars and violin always sounds bright and fresh. Quite slow song Eyeoneye brings another portion of pleasant melodies and gives a great vast for Andrew’s vocals. The performer seems to feel comfortable when he plays the instruments and when he sings, and such a unity of musical expression deserves respect. Make sure to pay special attention to eight-minute composition Hole In The Ocean Floor, as soon as its various transfers and changes of moods are impressive indeed.

An hour of real music

It does not seem that Break It Yourself will bring Andrew Bird untold wealth. His music is all about careful and thoughtful listening, which demands full enjoyment of the album’s atmosphere. In the constant race for the high positions in charts many performers forget about the real emotions, but luckily Andrew is not one of them. His albums were always distinctive due to the real feelings that had been put into them, and that is exactly why listeners fell in love with Bird’s art. Andrew can handle almost any genre, from classic to folk, and he combines notes and moods of these directions in a truly elaborated way. As the result he creates distinctive songs that are almost impossible to mix up with someone else’s. However that recipe would not be complete without Bird’s talent and his musical education. The Suzuki method exists for a good reason, after all. It works, and it has already given this world a lot of outstanding performers. There is no doubt that Andrew Bird is one of them.