4.0/5.0

The most apparent difficulty in reviewing an album from 35-year-old artist Andrew Bird is pinning a genre on the eclectic musician.

Bird, a classically trained violinist, employs everything from guitar and mandolin to xylophone and glockenspiel to create music that contains elements of folk-rock, jazz, pop and classical. Bird’s indefinable inventiveness has never been more evident than on his latest album, Noble Beast.

Released on Tuesday by Fat Possum Records, Noble Beast marks Bird’s fifth full-length solo record, following his previous collaborations with Squirrel Nut Zippers and his own band, Andrew Bird’s Bowl of Fire.

The album opens with “Oh No,” a song that is quintessential Bird. It pairs a looping harmony of handclaps, acoustic guitar and tambourine with the artist’s trademark whistling solos. Bird fans may recognize this opener from the artist’s New York Times blog, in which he detailed the creative process behind “Oh No.”

The 14-track set represents a far more cohesive effort than Bird’s sprawling 2007 album Armchair Apocrypha, the artist’s first with his current label. Noble Beast is especially restrained early on, with the mellow “Masterswarm” and the waltz-like, vocally-oriented “Effigy.”

In contrast to more typical album structure, Noble Beast’s energy increases throughout, with each track building off its predecessors. In “Anonanimal,” Bird picks up the pace with heavily layered strings and tongue-twisting lyrics: “I see a sea anemone/the enemy/see a sea anemone/and that’ll be the end of me.”

“Not a Robot, But a Ghost” is among the album’s most memorable tracks, featuring a pulsating beat that is altogether incongruous with Bird’s bowing and frequent whistling interludes.

As is often the case with Bird, Noble Beast is a study in contrast; while some tracks loop back on themselves for six or seven minutes, others last only seconds. A 20-second transition track of chirping birds, “Ouo,” seems randomly placed in the middle of the album, while the album closes on a one-minute violin solo, cleverly named “On Ho!”

Although the standard release is already a winding 54 minutes, a deluxe edition featuring an additional nine instrumental songs is also available. A vinyl print of Noble Beast will be released Feb. 3.

To promote the album, the Chicago-based artist will be touring North America throughout the winter and spring, including a Feb. 23 performance at The Moore Theatre. Those lucky enough to catch Bird’s set at the Woodland Park Zoo this past July will already know that Bird is sure to provide an experience beyond what can be heard on an iPod or laptop.

Reach A&E editor Joe Darda at arts@dailyuw.com.