The Roads Outgrown

For The Birds bears witness to the band's coming of age as an instinctive and integrated playing ensemble, working in service of Glen Hansard's open-heart-surgery songwriting. Veering from the warm melancholia of a Will Oldham or Nick Cave ("Lay Me Down", "When The Heart Just Stops"), to the inspired avant-guitarde of acts like Grandaddy and Mercury Rev ("Early Bird") For The Birds never loses sight of it's original intent, being a Frames record. Even when the band stretches out with an almost Americana feel ("Mighty Sword") or displays a fractious-type dynamic ("Santa Maria") they manage to remain true to themselves meshing styles and genres seamlessly. The new music is conceived of timeless elements, distinguished by Hansard's bare-all vocals, Dave Odlum's low-lying guitar, Colm Mac An Iomaire's grainy violin and the subtlest of all rhythm sections.