The Singles Bar: Birds of Chicago ‘Roll Away’ heavy hearts & musical stones
The Americana duo return with a rollicking blues number.
Welcome to The Singles Bar, a review series focused on new single and song releases.
Birds of Chicago are a real American treasure. Allison Russell and JT Nero dance around lyrics of considerable vulnerability, sprayed with blues, gospel and Americana specks. Coming off their underrated and overlooked 2017 EP American Flowers, which witnesses some of their finest and most striking work, the pair return with “Roll Away,” the primer for their forthcoming full-length, Love in Wartime. The record is helmed by producer Luther Dickinson (lead guitarist and vocalist for North Mississippi Allstars) and set in stone inside the walls of Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studio of Chicago.
In a world of constant hurt, Russell and Nero remind us of humanity’s grace, often cloaked behind walls and uncertainty. “Roll away the heavy stones,” they urge on the opening line, hand claps flying in zigs and zags in the arrangement. “Roll away the heavy hours / Roll on in the sun and moon.” Amidst their cheery optimism, they recall moments of weakness and ruin. “Pain will come and pain will go,” they dispatch, Russell’s vibrato tangling with Nero’s scruffier baritone. “But the world was turning slow / Now, you know it’s turning fast / Built for wonder, made to gleam / Although, never built to last.”
As stated in press materials ⎯⎯ the song was “written as a shot in the arm for the heartsick, hibernating or otherwise embittered, and invokes the rites of spring with the very real sense that there’s no time to lose,” reads the release ⎯⎯ “Roll Away” bids the listener, who might just be devastatingly burdened with sorrow and life’s trusty set of troubles, to come forth on a musical adventure. Birds of Chicago delight in well-crafted traditions, often weaving in their own makeshift trinkets, and if you are feeling down and blue, Russell and Nero will pick you up. It’s unequivocally that simple.
Love in Wartime arrives May 4 on Signature Sound Recordings.
Grade: 4 out of 5
Listen below:
Follow Birds of Chicago on their socials: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website
