Hark! is the forthcoming holiday album from Andrew Bird, due out next week. An expansion of his 2019 EP of the same name, the project features covers of John Prine and John Cale, as well as original numbers like today’s newly unveiled “Christmas in April”.
As you may have guessed by its title, this seasonal offering was inspired by and written during quarantine. On it, the indie troubadour wonders what the holidays will look like amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
“When will we know if we can meet under the mistletoe?” Birds asks with a sobering melancholy in his voice, echoing our very same anxieties and fears as the global health crisis stretches into fall and winter. (Remember when we thought it would only last through spring?)
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In a statement, Bird further explained his thoughts behind the new song,
“There were those various stages of acceptance we all went through at first while our brains tried to process how disruptive COVID would be (remember when we thought it would be 2 weeks?). By April I was looking ahead to the holidays and wondering if/when I’d see my folks, knowing that there were millions of people thinking the same thing. Those kinds of universally shared moments are rare in this fractured world.”
Below, find both a studio and live performance version of “Christmas in April”. Hark! officially drops October 30th via Loma Vista and serves as the Fargo star’s follow-up to 2019’s My Finest Work Yet.
