Brown Bird: Axis Mundi

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Brown Bird
Axis Mundi
(Supply & Demand)
4 out of 5 stars

Videos by American Songwriter

A little over a year ago, Brown Bird’s guitarist and singer David Lamb succumbed to leukemia at the age of 36. That cut short the steadily ascending arc of a remarkably innovative and talented artist who, since Brown Bird’s 2006 debut, had been carving out a unique artistic musical vision. Ultimately reduced to a duo with his wife MorganEve Swain, the twosome combined folk, rock and most intriguingly Eastern European and Middle Eastern strains to create songs of extraordinary emotion and passion. The couples’ wonderful 2013 release, Fits of Reason, moved them slightly closer to the mainstream while maintaining their determined, slightly off-kilter, indie approach and boundless energy.

Thankfully Lamb had recorded demos for their next project before he passed. Swain, her brother and an engineer worked to complete these with as much integrity as Lamb infused into everything he touched. Although we’ll never know for sure, it’s likely he would be completely pleased with the results.  Axis Mundi, an expression pulled from Lamb’s lyric notebook that represents the place where heaven connects to earth, is a 16 track, hour long bookend to Brown Bird’s catalog that should bring closure to Lamb’s fans after his sudden demise.

It’s a bit harder and more rock oriented than previous titles but still features the world aspects that made the duo’s sound so idiosyncratic. Lamb’s voice sounds a little weak at times but there is no doubt about the energy and dedication he put into these tracks, which is evident even after the overdubs were laid down. Swain had a firm grasp of Lamb’s direction and wanted these final pieces to reflect him at his best. Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be paid is that without knowing the somber back story, this sounds like another terrific Brown Bird disc. Even with the darkness that songs such as “Pale and Paralyzed,” “Forest of Fevers” and “Tortured Boy” imply, there is a sense of rugged determination infused into each performance with an inevitable decisiveness.

To her credit, Swain left some selections such as “Shadrach” as instrumentals. But even those where she added her vocals, usually as harmony, feel natural and something that Lamb would approve of.  In general, this is appropriately stripped down with each instrument, especially Lamb’s gnarled riff oriented guitar lines, clearly defined in the mix. That gives cuts like “Novelty of Thought” a terse, tough intensity shared by the entire set.

Maybe editing out a few pieces would have made an overall stronger work, but since these are Lamb’s last compositions, Swain probably felt they should all be included.  The result makes this surprisingly successful posthumous album a fitting conclusion to a career that was just starting to fulfill its promise.

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