Reviews

Artist:Mike Reinstein
Album: The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here
Label: Irregular
Tracks: 13
Website: https://mikereinstein.bandcamp.com/

It takes an iron constitution to watch the news these days and not give in to sickness and despair. Whichever side of the political tracks you feel most comfortable, the world is becoming ever more divisive and there’s plenty going on to leave us all howling into the abyss. Of course, there are those amongst us who howl in far more musical ways than others, creating something wonderful out of the anger and frustration.

Which neatly brings us round to The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here, the latest album from Mike Reinstein. Ostensibly there are two very different types of albums that tend to spring from Reinstein’s creative juices; his albums aimed at children, and those aimed at adults. Scratch beneath the surface just a little though, and there doesn’t seem all that much difference between the two. That’s not to say there’s anything childish about his latest release though. The themes here are midnight black and deeply cynical at times. It’s more that there’s nothing in a Mike Reinstein album that every talks down to his audience.

That’s not the only similarity between the two types. You can always depend on Reinstein to create songs that are delightfully eloquent and erudite, with a lyrical playfulness that surprises and charms in equal measure. Even when singing about the weightiest of subjects, he does so with the lightest of touches, so that occasionally you need multiple listens to really take on board the vitriolic nature of the lyrics. The lightness of touch should not disguise the fact that the tracks here are powered by a deep reservoir of anger that is barely being kept at bay, and which threatens at times to erupt in an apocalyptic paroxysm of fire and brimstone.

Despite this justifiable rage, these are not songs that ever come across as preachy. The opener, A Service We’re Glad To Provide, tackles the evils of the arms trade, relying on the baser human instincts to rake in the cash. It does so with a wickedly satirical edge so sharp you almost need safety gear to listen to it. The likes of Looking For A Loophole similarly drips with sarcasm in its tale of a familiar seeming man looking to avoid judgement. Horror and humour make for excellent bedfellows throughout the album.

Most notably perhaps, we also have a bonus track on the album which represents the very first musical project undertaken together by Mike and Reina James-Reinstein. The Mother’s Song was written way back in 1989, hoping to draw attention to the disappeared of Argentina between 1976 and 1983. It’s a heartbreaking track that still resonates these many years later. More than that, it still feels depressingly relevant.

No collection of music, no matter how well written, is ever going to change hearts and minds that are closed off to the possibility of how the world could be. That doesn’t make The Birds Don’t Sing Around Here any less powerful or important, however. At times such as these we need people like Mike Reinstein all the more; those who stand up and show how ridiculous the world and especially it’s bewilderingly appointed leaders, really are.

Adam Jenkins

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