Rare Birds (album)

Rare Birds
Studio album by Jonathan Wilson
Released	March 2, 2018 (2018-03-02)
Studio	Five Star Studios
Length	78:44
Label	Bella Union
Producer	Jonathan Wilson
Jonathan Wilson chronology
Slide By (2014) Rare Birds (2018) Dixie Blur (2020)

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	7.3/10[1]
Metacritic	74/100[2]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[3]
American Songwriter	[4]
Dork	[5]
Exclaim!	7/10[6]
God Is in the TV	9/10[7]
The Independent	[8]
The Line of Best Fit	8/10[9]
The Observer	[10]
Under the Radar	5.5/10[11]

Rare Birds is the third studio album by American musician and producer Jonathan Wilson. It was released on March 2, 2018 under Bella Union.[12]

Production

The album was self-produced by Wilson at his Five Star Studios, with Jeffertitti Moon ; in Echo Park, Los Angeles.[12][13]

Release

On December 5, 2017, Jonathan Wilson revealed the new album to be released on Bella Union on March 2, 2018. The album has appearances by Lana Del Rey, Laraaji and Father John Misty.[12] The first single to be released from the album, "Over The Midnight" is directed by Andrea Nakhla.[13]

Critical reception

Rare Birds was met with "generally favorable" reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, this release received an average score of 74, based on 13 reviews.[2] Aggregator Album of the Year gave the release a 74 out of 100 based on a critical consensus of 12 reviews.[14]

Thom Jurek from AllMusic explained that the album "is dizzying in ambition and (mostly) dazzling in execution. It offers hours of enjoyment to anyone who takes it on. It's sprawling at nearly 80 minutes, and lavishly packaged.".[3] Andy Gill from The Independent stated: "The lush opacity becomes claustrophobic over his eighty-minute default track length: though frequently sweet and beautiful, one’s ultimately left like Heliogabalus, drowned in rose petals.".[8]

Accolades

Accolades for Rare Birds

Publication	Accolade	Rank
Glide Magazine	Glide Magazine's Top 20 Albums of 2018	N/A[15]
OOR	OOR's Top 20 Albums of 2018	18[16]
Uproxx	Uproxx' Top 50 Albums of 2018 – Mid-Year	41[17]

Track listing

Rare Birds track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Trafalgar Square" (featuring Jessica Wolfe and Holly Laessig)	6:23
2.	"Me"	4:49
3.	"Over the Midnight" (featuring Krystle Warren)	8:15
4.	"There's A Light" (featuring Jessica Wolfe and Holly Laessig)	4:57
5.	"Sunset Boulevard" (featuring Omar Velasco)	5:44
6.	"Rare Birds" (featuring Jessica Wolfe, Holly Laessig and Omar Velasco)	5:25
7.	"49 Hair Flips" (featuring Father John Misty and Krystle Warren)	5:11
8.	"Miriam Montague" (featuring Father John Misty)	4:41
9.	"Loving You" (featuring Laraaji)	8:28
10.	"Living With Myself" (featuring Lana Del Rey)	6:46
11.	"Hard To Get Over"	6:32
12.	"Hi-Ho The Righteous"	6:06
13.	"MulHolland Queen"	5:21

Personnel Musicians Jonathan Wilson – primary artist Dan Bailey – drums (track 6, 8) Joey Waronker – drums (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 10) Jake Blanton – bass (tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6) Dan Horne – moog bass Pete Jacobsen – cello (track 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11) John Kirby – piano (tracks 3, 4, 8, 10) Ziad Rabie – saxophone (track 2, 8) Tom Lea – violin (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8) Derek Stein – cello (tracks 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 11) Greg Leisz – guitar (track 4, 6, 10) Jessica Wolfe – guest vocals (tracks 1, 4, 6) Laraaji – gues vocals (track 9) Josh Tillman – guest vocals (tracks 3, 7) Krystle Warren – guest vocals (tracks 3, 7) Holly Laessig – guest vocals (tracks 1, 4, 6) Omar Velasco – guest vocals (track 5, 6) Lana Del Rey – guest vocals (track 9, 10) Ziad Rabie – saxophone Jeffertitti – co-producer, vocals (track 3, 11), piano (track 3), mellotron (track 8, 12) , moog (track 12) Production Adam Ayan – mastering Dave Cerminara – mixing Drew Erickson – string arrangement Andrea Nakhla – photographer

Charts Chart performance for Rare Birds Chart (2018) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 33 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 102 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[20] 41 French Albums (SNEP)[21] 116 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[22] 33 Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] 32 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 49 UK Albums (OCC)[25] 79 UK Independent Albums (OCC)[26] 8 US Folk Albums (Billboard)[27] 10 US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[28] 10 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[29] 32 US Top Tastemaker Albums (Billboard)[30] 21

References

1. "AnyDecentMusic? Review". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
2. "Metacritic Review". Metacritic. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
3. Jurek, Thom. "AllMusic Review". AllMusic. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
4. Horowitz, Hal (February 26, 2018). "American Songwriter Review". American Songwriter. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
5. Young, Martyn (March 6, 2018). "Dork Magazine Review". Dork. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
6. Sylvester, Daniel (March 2, 2018). "Exclaim! Review". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
7. Page, Andy (March 2, 2018). "God Is in the TV Review". God Is in the TV. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
8. Gill, Andy (March 8, 2018). "The Independent Review". The Independent. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
9. Oinonen, Janne (February 21, 2018). "The hippie dream turns sour with some spectacular results on Jonathan Wilson's Rare Birds". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
10. Mardles, Paul (March 4, 2018). "Jonathan Wilson: Rare Birds review – a rich, ambitious triumph". The Observer. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
11. Watkins, Michael (March 6, 2018). "Under the Radar Review". Under the Radar. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
12. Murphy, Sarah (December 5, 2017). "Jonathan Wilson Gets Lana Del Rey and Father John Misty for 'Rare Birds' LP". Exclaim!. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
13. Day, Laurence (December 5, 2017). "Jonathan Wilson announces third solo album Rare Birds and shares new song "Over The Midnight"". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
14. "Album of the Year Review". Album of the Year. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
15. "Glide Magazine's 20 Best Albums of 2018". Glide Magazine. November 26, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
16. "Album van het jaar". OOR (in Dutch). December 4, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
17. "50 Best Albums of 2018 So Far". Uproxx. May 29, 2018. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
18. "Ultratop.be – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
19. "Ultratop.be – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
20. "Dutchcharts.nl – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
21. "Lescharts.com – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
22. "Offiziellecharts.de – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
23. "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
24. "Swisscharts.com – Jonathan Wilson – Rare Birds". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
25. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
26. "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
27. "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
28. "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Heatseekers Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
29. "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.
30. "Jonathan Wilson Chart History (Top Tastemaker Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 13, 2020.

External links

• Rare Birds at Discogs
• Rare Birds at MusicBrainz