Stream: Bedouine, ‘Bird’

Kevin Bronson on April 1st, 2019

1

“If there’s a heaven and if there’s a hell / I’m sure that we’ll wind up there together,” Bedouine sings in her new single “Bird,” her mellifluous voice playing both ends of destiny against the middle. It’s part of the playful but penetrating dichotomies on her new sophomore album, which she announced last week would be out May 31.

“It’s called ‘Bird Songs of a Killjoy,’ and I’m the killjoy,” says the singer-songwriter, born Azniv Korkejian, describing herself as a curmudgeon and a depressive. She adds, laughing: “Dare I say — a difficult woman. I’m taking ownership of that stereotype, proudly. The music itself, however, is the farthest from curmudgeonly or depressive as could be. It’s a soundtrack to spring blossom, to warm air on skin, to the concept of possibility.”

The album, the follow-up to her acclaimed debut released in the summer of 2017, finds her working again with Gus Seyffert, who has played with Beck, Michael Kiwanuka, Roger Waters and Norah Jones and who has produced artists such as James Supercave, Steady Holiday and Dr. Dog.

Of the new song — which features background vocals by Lucius and which follows up the album’s first single “When You’re Gone” — she says: “‘Bird’ is about loving someone so much that you’re willing to loosen your grip on them. It was written as a love letter with the intent of delivering it. It’s one of my favorite memories regarding the power of song. I had so much to communicate and this was the only way I was able to get it all down. I drafted it on my recorder and emailed it that evening. The next morning there was a freshly written song in response to mine in my inbox. I was totally astonished by this perfect exchange. It seemed to prove that sometimes when you’re willing to let something go is when you’re given it entirely.”

Letting go has scarcely sounded so heavenly.

||| Stream: “Bird”