“A Mantle For The Lantern” by Tough Old Bird

‘Tis the season for the folk musicians to come out of the woodworks with soft and warm songs to counteract the crisp, ever-changing weather of the Buffalo area. Tough Old Bird is meeting the demand for this musical need with their new EP, A Mantle For The Lantern, a collection of classically folky tunes taking inspiration from the beauty of western New York in the fall. 

Tough Old Bird is a Buffalo-based duo of songwriting brothers that have been innovating on classic Appalachian folk music for the last 7 years. Their first EP came out in 2016, called Gambling Days, and multiple releases of singles and EPs have followed leading up to their most recent release. A Mantle For The Lantern offers up a few new twists but mostly good old-fashioned folk to its listeners just in time for Autumn. 

Track Review

“The Jaybird Lives!” opens up the EP with classic folky indie vibes. The song mostly focuses on the lyrics to tell the story of the jaybird with fun wordplay and includes the title of the EP, which serves as a good introduction to the word as well as the band. While the track mostly centers around the story told by the lyrics, it also features great strings, with a plucky but melancholic tone. Overall, a solid start to the EP.

The third track, called “Thirteen Blackbirds” continues the fingerpicking melancholy of the previous tracks, but features a more shallow sound. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though, as slower lyrical cadence and pauses in storytelling evoke images of an elder telling a decades-old story. In a folk context, this comes off as charming and enjoyable to listen to, as well as creating a good mix of tempos across the overall work.

“Hunter, Faithless” is a very distinct tone shift from the other tracks, with a futuristic electronica sound. This serves as a direct foil to the folky vibes of the rest of the EP, adding instruments like keyboards, electric guitar, and a high-pitched back-up singer. I personally believe this one doesn’t fit in with the other songs, as the guitar solo is the only thing that vaguely resembles folk.  I don’t really understand this song and its place in the EP. The shift in genre is somewhat jarring and doesn’t make sense in the overall story told by the work.

“Remembrance” brings it back to the finger plucking folky sound, with great harmonica and a beautifully soaring chorus. It serves as a big crescendo of a song to end the EP, which I greatly enjoyed after not caring for the previous track. 

Verdict

While I really wanted to enjoy this EP as a larger work, I was partially put off by the sudden shift in tone with “Hunter, Faithless.” I don’t dislike electronica, but in the context of a folk EP, it doesn’t make any sense or add anything to the overall narrative. 

In many ways, folk and electronica are direct opposites, so placing a futuristic track in the middle of the EP was an odd choice. Maybe that was the intention of the guys of Tough Old Bird, but I can’t tell after listening to it. Otherwise, the other tracks on the EP are a great collection of new-but-classic folky tunes that are great for fall. If Tough Old Bird decides to shift entirely to electronica for their next release, I won’t oppose that at all, but the one-off futuristic track in their very classical-sounding EP wasn’t working for me. 

If you’re interested in listening to any of Tough Old Bird’s music, you can find them on SoundCloud, Bandcamp, and YouTube, and you can find more information on them here on The List! Their new EP will be available on all of the aforementioned platforms on October 22, 2021.