Andrew Bird admits to having trouble composing love songs, but unlike most people with writer’s block, the musician was able to enlist Fiona Apple to help him get over it. Bird has just released “Left Handed Kisses,” the second track off his new album, Are You Serious, which drops April 1. He and Apple enjoy a kind of call and response dynamic, wherein Bird demurs as Apple spurs him on in tackling a genre he’s avoided up till now. The “Left Handed Kisses” phrase symbolizes Bird’s awkwardness in writing a love song, a quality that Apple urges him to set aside even as she calls him out for a perceived lack of earnestness. It’s a lovely acoustic track, with Bird and Apple’s lilting vocals often blending before setting off on different paths.
Preorders for Are You Serious are available here, and Bird has added some West Coast dates to his tour.
Additional tour dates
May 13—The Observatory North Park—San Diego, CA
May 14—Ace Theatre—Los Angeles, CA
May 15—Ace Theatre—Los Angeles, CA
May 16—The Masonic—San Francisco, CA
May 18—Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall—Portland, OR
May 19—The Showbox—Seattle, WA
May 21—Orpheum Theatre—Vancouver, British Columbia
May 23—The Depot—Salt Lake City, UT
May 24—Paramount Theatre—Denver, CO