Album Review: Xavier Rudd - Spirit Bird

Returning to solo mode for his seventh studio record, Spirit Bird is every bit the soul journey we've come to expect from Xavier Rudd. Capturing the raw beauty and power of the bush through a chuckling kookaburra and didgeridoo in the largely instrumental opener Lioness Eye, the tireless environmental and Indigenous crusader demonstrates his deep connection to our country with many snippets of his feathered friends across the record. Provided by David Stewart, Australia's most renowned wildlife sound recordist, the samples are a natural extension of Rudd's expression across Spirit Bird, adding authenticity to the title track and elsewhere creating a comforting, natural ambience.

Remarkably, Comfortable In My Skin was written during a difficult period of forced bed-rest following back surgery, though it rolls easily and joyfully from Rudd as he hits his musical strength – simple, well-executed folk sans percussion with a vocal melody that goes straight for the heart. Rudd's other forte, fat percussion and chugging roots rhythms feature heavily too; Culture Bleeding lends the Indigenous language of Impossible Odds frontman Fred Leone to create a haunting, tribal vibe found again on the trance-inducing 3 Roads.    

Create A Dream is Rudd's Imagine, a lovely, unassuming closer in which he shares his dreams of a better world over finger-picked guitar and his trademark Weissenborn slide used subtly to covey the perfection of an imperfect, heartfelt vocal: “Imagine sacred sites were left to be/Imagine if true activists controlled TV”. It's in these quieter moments that Rudd proves himself as one of the country's most important musical voices, converting anyone who possesses an open heart and a respect for sacred Australia.