While it’s far from remarkable, These 13 benefits from the fact that it knows it’s a tossed-off side project from two artists with little to prove. They have the feeling of established folk staples rather than new material, which is a good fit for the instrumentation. The opener, “Poor Lost Souls,” could easily come across as a condescending view of those left behind by Hollywood, almost like a bad charity single, yet it’s delivered with such earnestness and quaint detail that it works. A lot of the songs feel more like fables or parables, especially “Dig Up the Hatchet” and its tale of forgiveness. Then again, the bare-bones structure lets some otherwise insufferable lyrics slide through without much hassle. As previously stated, the overall aesthetic is agreeable, but there comes the point when it is a little too barren. The same goes for some of the background vocals songs like “Jack O’ Diamonds” could have benefitted from a more interesting vocal melody or harmonies, especially so late into the album to break up the monotony. It wouldn’t be an Andrew Bird record without his trademark violin, and the solos are perfectly placed on “Bell Witch” and “Encircle My Love.” It would have been nice to hear more instrumental layers the piano on “Bell Witch” provides delicate flutters, yet the only other noticeable use of keyboards is on the throwaway interlude “Bright Sunny South” and its one-minute of sustained accordion and organ.
Every pluck is felt, and there are a lot of plucks across the album, from finger-picking to faster strumming. The production is delicate without feeling washed out or gutless. While the two shine on their own, the final song, “Three White Horses and a Golden Chain,” brings them together as Mathus provides lead while Bird howls in the background and provides impossibly gorgeous whistling. Similarly, Mathus drops the outlaw smolder of Blue Healer for a more world-weary figure, a perfect fit for the tortured misery of “High John” with its sharp violins dominating the song when they’re normally saved for a killer solo on other songs. These are some of his most compelling vocal performances in a while: the openings of “Beat Still My Heart” and “Burn the Honky Tonk” are chilling as his baritone is allowed to expand throughout the mix, capturing the quiet thoughtfulness of the best Jason Isbell song. Bird’s has gotten more conceptual and dense in recent years, yet The se 13 proves he can still deliver sweet morsels of charming acoustic parable. The vocals, when not guttural growls, are of the eerie chanting (sometimes in a duet by the only two members of the band) variety.At a time when many of the biggest names in folk are going for electronic flourishes or heavy distortion, it is refreshing to hear something more restrained and thus more charming. One more thing: what enhances this feeling of ritual is also the vocal use. Deep at times, dark at others, evil at others but all the while carrying a feeling that is occult as Crowley, Bell Witch is right up your alley if you like evil, soothing, easy-to-listen music.
Hell, the intro itself is a three-minute segment, all onto its own, so that should give you an idea how slow these guys take things.
#ANDREW BIRD BELL WITCH PLUS#
At just four songs, this beastly little demo is thirty seven plus minutes. Most of the music is stripped down to its bare essentials (one being sound) but what comes out is music and beyond. It’s low-tempo-by-default, fat slabs and bare bones of grooves at times, and at others, gentle touches of lead on top of power chords droning on, slammed every eight bars and left to fill the rest on its own. As expected of a band who takes its moniker from an actual haunting, it’s mostly slow-as-all-hell doom punishment that never makes it to such breakneck speeds as mid-tempo. It’s a hypnotic, immersive, vile concoction of ritual they craft.īut, for all its unclassifiable goodness, one thing is sure: the music is ritualistic. There are bits of sludge, bits of drone, bits of doom and bits of Satan knows what in there. I say doom blend, because here’s the thing about this Seattle-based two-piece doom outfit: what they do isn’t cut-and-dry doom. Such is the case of Bell Witch, an interesting, occultish doom-blend band I came across on DoomGrinder. There was even a time when I ran away from certain labels, only to later find out that the labels also applied to some of the stuff I loved. When it comes to music, I live in two occurrences: things coming completely out of the left field, and sometimes falling in love with something I otherwise was so damn sure I would hate.
#ANDREW BIRD BELL WITCH HOW TO#
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