Humbird debuts in the Benelux with "Astrovan: The Love Song Vignettes"

Songs, at their best, reflect something of where we are, where we've been, or where it is we're going. Sometimes all at once, right when we need it. Humbird makes music in pursuit of exactly this phenomenon. With deep roots in the midwest heartland, Humbird also travels like a bramble, fusing experimental folk and indie rock genres in a mosaic of theaters, clubs, gardens, festivals, barns, and other strange locations. Siri Undlin, the songwriter behind the moniker, forges an explorative embodiment of the narrative folk song and balladry tradition for these modern times.

Following the surprise success of the self-released debut album Pharmakon and the pensive reflections of 2021’s Still Life, her 2024 critically-lauded album Right On was the next iteration in her process of witnessing the world in all its complexity and responding with candid consideration. It is nine tracks of electrified, gritty, Midwest Americana with a little magic fairy just thrown in. The band's latest project, Astrovan: The Love Song Vignettes reevaluates the rules with eleven short love songs spanning just under fifteen minutes.

Astrovan is not just a testament to Humbird’s writing – one imagines that after her strident Right On, a collection of love songs is a welcome reprieve. However, here we see Humbird playing with a number of sounds: the whistling gust of an organ (I think) on “Radiator,” the shimmery electronica of “Strings Attached” and the crunchy electric guitars of “Person” that call to mind ‘90s alt-folk rockers Tracy Bonham and Ani DiFranco. For a 15-minute collection of vignettes, Humbird has crafted them with serious intent. And, perhaps, love is simply all of these things at once: the serious, the silly, and the fulfillment of desire.

23/01: Diksmuide, BE - 4AD
27/01: Leiden, NL - Q-Bus
28/01: Groningen, NL - A-Theater