PREVIEW
Birds of Chicago
Friday, Nov. 2, at 7:30 p.m.
Arden Theatre
5 St. Anne Street
Tickets: $38. Call 780-459-1542 or at www.ticketmaster.ca
Reviewers are reading political and social undertones in Birds of Chicago’s latest release Love in Wartime. Yet ironically, the husband and wife duo, J.T. Nero and Allison Russell, were focused on producing an album with a through line promoting love.
“We didn’t think of them as things happening politically, but as a spiritual response to the maliciousness in the country, and we needed to address it on a spiritual level,” said J.T. Nero, now based in Nashville.
“Although the album wasn’t intended to be political, the themes felt as if they’d been thrown into higher relief because of the poisonous climate in our culture.”
Nero was speaking to the Gazette just prior to the Birds of Chicago’s return appearance at the Arden Theatre on Friday, Nov. 2. Close friend and lead guitarist Steve Dawson, formerly of Vancouver and now a resident of Nashville, joins the duo.
Birds of Chicago first brought their rock ‘n’ roll swagger, soul-rich vocals and unmistakable chemistry to the Arden last season, and were fully embraced by a sold-out crowd. In Love in Wartime, the married duo once again demonstrate a unity for one another’s musicality and core beliefs.
Nero notes that their first recording session for Love in Wartime actually occurred on U.S. President Donald Trump’s inauguration day, Jan. 20, 2017.
“Our original concept was to make an album about love. We were trying to make a rock and roll album that was a joyous document. But the things we were working on felt more vital as things got darker.”
Both Nero and Russell believe love is an act of bravery.
“Love is the most vulnerable act. It felt good before. It felt even better as things went sideways.”
And while the themes of love and resurrection run throughout the album, each song is infused with a distinctive groove. They included falsettos, syncopated drum beats, classic hand claps, Celtic notes and Cajun rhythms.
Russell takes the soulful lead in Baton Rouge with its jazzy tones and country blues vibe that uses the 2016 floods as a metaphor for the rising tide of crises. Never Go Back pounds out a rhythmic danceability that is in direct contrast to Superlover's languorous yet captivating feel.
“I’m always attracted to music with a little bit of tension between the music,” Nero added.
An example is Derecho, a funky dance groove with menacing undercurrents and lyrics that suggest “something wicked is coming this way.”
Nero, who hails from the Great Lakes area, experienced first-hand the violent derecho’s severe thunderstorms that caused hurricane-force winds.
“It can be really sunny. And all of sudden, you get these flash floods that can last seven minutes, but they’re really violent and rip out trees in parks. Just as quickly as they come, it’s serene.”
“Storms come and go, but we can remain true, strong and undaunted.”
