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Folk, singer-songwriter, guitarist, Hassocks, UK.

Als iemand dit over een album schrijft is mijn nieuwsgierigheid gewekt. Terecht. Het eerste nummer alleen al is hilarisch.
“Anger & despair never sounded so exquisitely, eloquently & wittily expressed. Though the themes are austerely dark, the songs offer us those old consolations—humanity…beauty, superb musicianship & highly singable refrains & choruses.”

Mike Reinstein has graced these pages previously but it has been six years since I last wrote about him. He has enjoyed a varied career, most recently as a secondary and special needs teacher. He’s written and recorded music for children but with his grown-up hat on The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here is his fourth album for Irregular Records who are known to be a bit radical. He certainly lives up to that billing. Mike is supported by his regular team: trombonist Tim Wade, Lee Humber, Mike O’Connor and Reina James-Reinstein with the addition of Barry Wickens, trumpeter Mickey Ball, saxophonist Kate Hogg, pianist Joss Peach and producer Ali Gavan.

The brass section are important and the opening of the first track, ‘A Service We’re Glad To Provide’, sounds like a slightly stoned bierkeller band. The song itself is a wickedly humorous take on the arms trade so you can see where it’s coming from. “There’s always an enemy” is the strapline and this is Mike Reinstein at his best. Piano takes the lead on ‘A Day Of Darkness’, a solemn view of the day of judgement with the brass taking the instrumental break. Barry Wickens’ violin introduces ‘Best Men’ with a tune that sounds vaguely traditional. The song is about the Troubles and points out that it is still happening despite what we may think.

‘The Human Race’ tells of a meeting with God as a meths-drinking down-and-out who points out that the world is a beautiful place but it’s us that has fucked it up. ‘Bishop Hatto’ is a poem by Robert Southey about a nasty piece of work who came to an equally nasty, if poetically just, end in his own castle. Southey exaggerates a bit and the legend has been told of both Hatto I and Hatto II but it’s a great story.

‘They’re Never Gonna Get Me Down’ is an attack on those people who think themselves better than the rest of us – or perhaps a cornered criminal, I haven’t quite decided – but there is a strange element of sympathy in the song which comes with some tasty guitar, probably from O’Connor. ‘Only Disconnect’ feels like a more personal song as is ‘Our Utopia’ which is Mike’s vision for the world… or…it’s exactly the opposite and is his fear of what could happen in the not-too-distant future. Nice trumpet by Ball.

Next comes the title track, a bluesy song asking for answers to the problem of the world’s violence and why the birds don’t sing around here any more. More bluesy piano in ‘Looking For A Loophole’ which is about – no, you can decide for yourselves. Actually, what the hell, it’s about Trump. And if it isn’t I’ll want to know why not. ‘Gagged And Bound’ tells of something we all feel as we get older – the sense that we don’t belong in this time. More brass here – trumpet and sax, I think. There is a slight reggae vibe, tropical at least, to ‘The Journey Of The Heart’.

Reina shares lead vocals on the bonus track, ‘The Mother’s Song’, recorded thirty-five years ago to draw attention to the “disappeared” in Argentina. After all this time it’s still a belting song. The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here is a fine album and I hope I’m still around to hear Mike’s next one.

Tracks:
01 - A Service We're Glad To Provide
02 - A Day Of Darkness
03 - Best Men
04 - The Human Race
05 - Bishop Hatto
06 - They're Never Gonna Get Me Down
07 - Only Disconnect
08 - Our Utopia
09 - The Birds Don't Sing Around Here
10 - Looking For A Loophole
11 - Gagged and Bound
12 - The Journey Of The Heart
13 - The Mother's Song

Staat er compleet op, 10% pars mee gepost. Met zeer veel dank aan de originele poster. Laat af en toe eens weten wat je van het album vindt. Altijd leuk, de mening van anderen. Oh ja, MP3 doe ik niet aan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXZYodIFx10