Album Review: Local Natives - Hummingbird

A wave of spine-tingling emotion washes over listeners with Local Natives' newest release, Hummingbird - a more soothing, reflective and emotionally raw compilation than its successful predecessor, Gorilla Manor. Still containing the head-jerking, heart-fluttering riffs and soaring vocals of Gorilla Manor, Hummingbird is a step in a more mature direction for the band.
First track, You and I, is certainly the foreword for what is a more lyrically personal album. The sound is reflective of vocalist Kelcey Ayer's loss of his mother during the writing of the album. Every lyric is crafted with such delicacy and, matched with Ayers spine-tingling, powerful and often pleading falsetto vocals, produces a dream-like, thought-inducing state that is sustained throughout the album.

The album is a mix of up-tempo, rhythm-rich songs (Breakers, Woolly Mammoth) and more sombre, down-to-earth tracks with vulnerability oozing out (Columbia, You And I). Colombia pulls delicately at each of your heartstrings until finally your own emotions are flowing from your arteries with intensity. Ayer calls out “am I giving enough?” and “am I loving enough?” – and you find yourself ensuring him that his mother would be proud.

The only downfall of this album may be its inability to stand out from the well-established indie-rock bands that inspire them. Their picturesque hooks and melodies are still there, but they're hidden under a blanket of sounds that bear close comparisons to bands like Fleet Foxes, The National and Grizzly Bear. However, Hummingbird still drags you in with the emotionally cathartic quality of each word, note and melody the band produces.