Andrew Bird readies holiday LP, shares John Cale cover, starring in 'Fargo' now

Andrew Bird will release a holiday album, titled Hark!, which is out October 30 via Loma Vista. On it, Bird offers up his particular spin on standards, covers of songs by John Prine, Handsome Family and Vince Guaraldi, and a few originals, too (including one titled “Christmas in April” which is about COVID lockdown).

“Let’s not talk about the dubious motives that might lead an artist to make a holiday record,” says Andrew. “It’s a complicated relationship many of us have with the holidays and the requisite music we hear. So let’s admit that it’s a utilitarian thing. The music is just one contributing factor to our communal or solitary joy and melancholy. As a musician, it’s an excuse to take a break from writing the next record and indulge in an unapologetically nostalgic exercise. I’ve done my best to find some lesser known gems. A passing reference to wintertime sentiment is all it takes to make the cut on Hark! A mention of snow falling in John Cale’s ‘Andalucia,’ a namecheck of Christmas in John Prine’s ‘Souvenirs” or as the setting of the drunken fiasco in the Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine,’ remade as ‘Greenwine.'”

He’s shared the video for his cover of John Cale‘s “Andalucia” which you can watch below.

In other news, Andrew will perform 2005’s The Mysterious Production of Eggs in full for a livestream happening Saturday, October 10 at 8 PM ET, where he’ll be joined by longtime bandmate Alan Hampton.Tickets are on sale now, and a portion of proceeds will benefit “our independent venue and promoter partners worldwide.”

Meanwhile you can see Andrew Bird on the 4th season of FX’s Fargo, which just had its season premiere a couple nights ago. He’s got a pretty big supporting role, playing mortuary owner Thurman Smutny. The character is a bit of a wallflower and Bird gives a mannered, affected performance (but so does everybody else on this show). It’ll be interesting to see where this season — whose cast also includes Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman, Jessie Buckley, E’myri Crutchfield, Anji White, Timothy Olyphant, Ben Whishaw and more — will go with double-deals, double-crosses, jobs gone wrong, and more. Episodes premiere Sunday nights at 10 PM ET/PT on FX, and then the next day on Hulu. You can watch the trailer below.

Hark! tracklist:
Andalucia
Alabaster
Greenwine
Christmas In April
Souvenirs
Oh Holy Night
Mille Cherubini in Coro
Night’s Falling
Glad
Christmas is Coming
White Christmas
Skating
Auld Lang Syne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPm18g_vsqY