BOWERBIRDS
Issue #32
Hymns for a Dark Horse
By Rebekah Meek
Published: June 1st, 2007 | 12:00am
Few bands can mimic the warble of a songbird and not sound like fools. Bowerbirds will have you sweetly singing along to “and the sparrows sing: deet-deet-deet-deet” before you even notice you’re doing it. The songs on Hymns for a Dark Horse are carefully constructed fables on how to live a bit more lightly on this earth, told through nature itself. From the first plucked strings to the ending hush, they take you through tide pools, alongside brooks, and to places where “great white puffs of lumbering buffalo blanket the fishbowl sky.”
The grace of this record is that if you listen close enough, you’ll find morals woven into the accordion- and guitar-driven harmonies. “The Marbled Godwit” hints at our unsustainable thirst for non-renewable energy and “Slow Down” recommends that we do just that so that we aren’t “lost, lost in this torrent ... blind to all of the blood and carnage.” They have you reconsidering your footfalls as you softly two-step to their sublime melodies.
The heart of this record, however, lies in the last two songs. “The Ticonderoga” is a wandering banjo and a sharp-toothed realization that resonates with those of us that have been faced with our own demons. “Olive Hearts” moves from a soliloquy along the shore into a gypsy chorus that welcomes “manner men” and “sequined girls with their skirts hemmed high.” In short, this record is beautiful, timeless, and should not go unheard.
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