![](http://web.archive.org./web/20180207101517im_/http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_osaKxjJ33dE/SnnSl-B6A7I/AAAAAAAAAHM/YCK_Q6G6J0o/s400/bowerbirds.jpg)
Last night Nick & I saw the Bowerbirds at Mississippi Studios, which is quite near my new place. It is not the first show I’ve seen since the Little One was born, but it was the very best show. Their new record, Upper Air, has been in frequent rotation since it came out.
There’s a lot to love about their music, but the most compelling thing to me is the constant connection to nature in the lyrics. There’s a real romance with the natural world in their songs (and their lives, it seems, read their blog Olive Hearts). Working on my book, I often felt like I was geeking out with the references to glaciers and whales and moss and birds, like others would find this maudlin. But I wanted the natural world to be a character with whom the heroine has a profound and complicated relationship. When I listen to Bowerbirds I feel a kinship, in this way.