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Feb 04, 2019 By Christopher Roberts Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird is releasing a new album, the amusingly titled My Finest Work Yet, on March 22 via Loma Vista. Previously he shared its opening track, “Sisyphus” (which was one of our Songs of the Week), and now he has stopped by the Chris Thile-hosted public radio show Live From Here to perform the song. Watch video of the performance below.

In a press release Bird says of the album: “I think My Finest Work Yet is my finest work yet.” The album includes “Bloodless,” a politically themed song that Bird released in November and was our #1 Song of the Week.

The album tackles our current divisive political climate, as Bird explains in a press release: “I’m interested in the idea that our enemies are what make us whole-there’s an intimacy one shares with their opponent when locked in such a struggle. If we were to just walk away would our enemies miss us? How did we get to this point and how can we, through awareness of it, maybe pull ourselves out of this death spiral.”

Bird adds: “There is a certain optimism to this record…it’s pretty up musically though it doesn’t pull any punches when it comes to the lyrics.”

“Sisyphus” is named after the Greek king who was punished by Zeus “for trying to outsmart the gods and cheat death,” as the press release puts it. In the myth, Sisyphus was forced to push a heavy rock up a hill over and over again, with it rolling back down after each attempt. Bird says the track “is about being addicted to your own suffering and the moral consequences of letting the rock roll.”

Paul Butler produced My Finest Work Yet, which was recorded at Barefoot Recordings in Los Angeles, CA. Bird’s last album, Are You Serious, was released in 2016 via Loma Vista.

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