Andrew Bird Tunes In to ‘Inside Problems’ on Just-Announced New Record

“Inside Problems” album cover

There’s a face we present to the outside world — the version of ourselves our co-workers know, our friends know, and maybe even our families know. But there’s another self existing at the same time, known only inside our own head. And that self has a lot going on.

Singer-songwriter Andrew Bird gets to know that self, as it exists inside each one of us, on his new album, Inside Problems, coming June 3 on Loma Vista Recordings.

The 11 songs on Inside Problems examine the noise inside our heads when things get quiet, and also confront thresholds — those moments when we pass from one thing to the next, whether it’s a doorway or a life phase.

That state of transition, and thoughts on our place in the universe, is dreamily examined in the album’s latest single, “Underlands,” which features Bird’s trademark intricate violin melodies along with a rich groove from bassist Alan Hampton and harmony vocals from Madison Cunningham:

“You just don’t know what’s under the surface, be it the land, the sea, our skin,” Bird says in a press release announcing the new album. “You could be whistling away, projecting contentedness, when really there’s a swirling twisted mess underneath. Looking up, there’s the knowable universe but unless you get into astrology, you’ll find the stars don’t owe us anything and you’re left less assured than when we thought gods threw down lightning bolts. ‘Underlands’ introduces an album that deals with the unseen underneath and the membrane that separates your outside problems from your inside problems.”

On Monday, Bird offered another peek into his mind with a short film made as a prelude to the album announcement, featuring snippets of sound along with spoken-word musings that mirror Inside Problem’s themes:

Last month, Bird released the single “Atomized,” which will also appear on Inside Problems. The song was inspired by Joan Didion’s essays about the “atomization” of life in 1960s America, a reflection on how the idea that “things fall apart” is still relevant today. (See story and watch the song’s video here.)

Bird has been busy the past couple years. His previous album, 2019’s My Finest Work Yet, was nominated for the Best Folk Album Grammy (ND review). In 2021, he released a duo album with former Squirrel Nut Zippers bandmate Jimbo Mathus called These 13 (ND interview). And he made his acting debut as a seemingly naïve funeral parlor owner in 2020 on the TV show Fargo.