BIRD LANGUAGE – CHASING ECHOS
A Spill Exclusive Album Premiere
Bird Language is here to remind you of the good times.
A look into the cover art for the Boston band’s forthcoming EP Chasing Echos, which we are exclusively premiering today on The Spill Magazine, depicts a person swinging carefree into a New Hampshire lake on a perfect summer day, a moment captured and frozen in time. It acts as a portal into the music contained within.
Chasing Echos finds the indie rock quintet in a summer state of mind, extending a personal invitation for human connection that pierces through layers of guitars, bass and drums. Across the record’s four soulful tracks, Bird Language explores themes of friendship, love, and longing against the warm backdrop of the casual season, crafting an engaging soundtrack to life’s better days. Still intact are the panoramic snapshots of modern life, as captured in the band’s 2022 debut album 625 Days, but on this EP, a chemistry amongst its members flourishes as the summer setting in the artwork, an Andrew Houle oil painting inspired by a photograph taken by bassist Pat Piasecki, allows the music to bloom in vivid detail.
“Chasing Echos is about the nostalgia of warm summer nights, swimming with friends under starry skies,” says guitarist Andrew Doherty. “The good stuff we all miss when we are in traffic on I-93 South or sitting on the T en route to our day jobs.”
Stare at the EP artwork long enough, and Bird Language’s sound takes on new meaning. And its title rings out as a connection to our lives, from the present day to the memories of yesterday we hold so dear.
“The image has a sense of carefree summer days of the past,” says vocalist and keyboardist Jeff “Chip” Nicolai. “For me Chasing Echos is about thinking back fondly on those memories, but as time goes by they become faded like an echo. There is a bit of nostalgia throughout the songs, which I think also relates to the cover art. The songs’ themes center around connections from the past and experiences with old friends.”
Recorded by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios and mastered by Will Benoit at The Radar Studio, Chasing Echos is comprised of four tracks: Last year’s yearning lead single “Heartbreak Summertime,” which landed on Boston Emissions’ short list for Song of the Year; punchy new single and alt-country-ish opening track “Slow Shove,” which hits the streams ahead of the band’s show last month at Sonia in Cambridge; the expansive and layered “Perdido”; and a gripping instrumental ripper called “Full Voltron” that pays homage to early Smashing Pumpkins (the band often performs classic Pumpkins’ track “Rocket” in their live sets).
“We’ve been holding onto these songs since 2022 and it’s sort of a level up in terms of our intentionality and songwriting; leaving room for vocals, and allowing ourselves to get a little quieter and a little louder at the same time,” says guitarist Neil Simmons. “So it’s a bit cathartic to get it out there. Trying to write songs, not just for the sake of putting some sounds out there, but leaving room for vocal melodies.”
Since the release of 625 Days exactly 749 days ago – coincidentally, it’s been roughly 580 days, give or take, since the band finished recording these new songs – Bird Language have enlisted a new drummer in Boston music scene champion Dave Norton (Victory at Sea, Ruin The Nite), who brings a new tenacity to these chilled-out jams, each its own vibe and each tough to box into labels.
“The new songs are uniquely original that I think are hard to label in one specific genre,” Nicolai says. “We have been playing around more with different vocal parts and harmonies and incorporating those into the live shows as well. Now with Dave in the band we are able to experiment further with vocal parts.”
Doherty admits that the Bird Language sonic palette is expanding with each new track, building off the debut album’s vibe of ’70 AM pop-rock and smoothed-out soul. And that promise shines through across the panoramic 14 minutes of music contained within Chasing Echos.
“I think sonically we are showing that we can have dynamics that are loud, but in a tasteful guitar tone, kind of way, but still have a shimmering rich, melodic sense,” notes Simmons. Doherty adds: “We wanted to show how dynamic we are as musicians and how passionate we are about making music together. Come see us live and you will see what I mean.”
ARTIST QUOTE
“The [cover art] image has a sense of carefree summer days of the past. For me Chasing Echos is about thinking back fondly on those memories, but as time goes by they become faded like an echo. There is a bit of nostalgia throughout the songs, which I think also relates to the cover art. The songs’ themes center around connections from the past and experiences with old friends.” – Jeff ‘Chip’ Nicolai
CREDITS
All songs written by Bird Language
Recorded by Benny Grotto at Mad Oak Studios in November 2022
Mastered by Will Benoit at The Radar Studio
Drums on this recording by Michael Nashawaty
Bird Language
Chasing Echos
(Independent)
Release Date: June 7, 2024
Chasing Echos Track Listing
- Slow Stove
- Heartbreak Summertime
- Perdido
- Full Voltron
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