Sparkbird – “Disembodied Mind”

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Photo Credit: Kayla Wiley

A resonating and flourishing chamber-pop success from Portland-based artist Sparkbird, “Disembodied Mind” engrosses with sweeping string arrangements and poignant lyrics exploring “gender dysphoria and body dysmorphia, feeling at odds with the person in the mirror.”

“I am in trouble with myself again,” the artist admits over bouncing piano-laden anxiety and string flourishes. References to skin-picking and searching for treasure further echo those sentiments, with the cinematic-feeling strings and intimate vocals reminding stirringly of Andrew Bird.

“Say goodbye to the stranger on the other side,” continues the perception of feeling at odds with one’s self-perception. A haunting backing vocal accompaniment adds to the fervency — “to rip the soul from its shell,” — into a majestic string-forward conclusion. “Disembodied Mind” is a thorough success.

The track features an all-star cast, comprising Mathias Kunzli (Regina Spektor) on percussion, Bizarre Star Strings (The Decemberists) on strings, and Jeni Magana (Mitski) on bass.

This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Best of April 2023’ Spotify playlist.

We discovered this release via MusoSoup. The submitter accepted our content-based offer, which included financial compensation for our time writing, editing, and publishing this article.

Mike Mineo

I'm the founder/editor of Obscure Sound, which was formed in 2006. Previously, I wrote for PopMatters and Stylus Magazine.

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