Baird Shares "Chasing Deer" From 'Birdsongs Vol. 2' Out October 20th via EQT Recordings

Baltimore-raised, LA-based multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter Baird today shares “Chasing Deer,” the first track to be lifted from his forthcoming project, BIRDSONGS Vol 2. coming out October 20th via EQT Recordings (JPEGMAFIA, Masego).

Listen to “Chasing Deer” HERE and watch here:

BAIRD – Chasing Deer (Dance Video)

Inspired by an eclectic range of genre-melding musical auteurs like Jai Paul, Arthur Russell and more, Baird wrote and recorded BIRDSONGS Vol. 2 himself, blending together warped Ableton beats, loose guitar licks, and poems from his journal. A blithe and languid introduction to the out-of-time and out-of-place musical world of Baird, “Chasing Deer” lays unhurried nylon guitars, soaked in delay and reverb and evoking the rhythms of bossa nova far-off into the distance with a house-indebted beat and sub-bass, as though the contemporary and the traditional were both swirling around in the same air, dancing and co-mingling with one another to make something else entirely.

Says Baird about the new track, “‘Chasing Deer’ is a song made for dancing. The title is a nod to an anecdote a trusted mentor/friend, Om’mas Keith, told me once: ‘when you’re working on a song you’ve got to keep pursuing it until it fully reveals itself to you. It’s like chasing a deer through the woods — if you stop to rest and pick it up in the morning, the song will run off on you.’ Lyrically the song starts off as an apology, but I wanted it to be covert like that, like hiding the medicine in a spoonful of honey.”

BIRDSONGS, Vol. 2 is an amalgamation of those assorted electronic and acoustic sounds with much of the project’s sonic diversity being attributed to the variety of locations across which it was made, the music absorbing the surrounding locales like a sponge. After graduating in 2019, Baird spent the summer at home in Baltimore crafting the initial ideas for the project while simultaneously working as a Spanish-English translator for an immigration attorney.

As the summer came to a close, Baird was finishing up Roberto Bolaño’s “The Savage Detectives,” which inspired a move to Mexico City. There, Baird lived above a bustling restaurant, spending countless afternoon hours immersed in the music of Brazilian guitarist Mecano Bonfá, boleros groups Los Tres Ases and Los Panchos, and 80’s Spanish synth-pop, taking weekly guitar lessons from a busker whom he met on a night out, playing in the streets at night with friends in exchange for tips, food, and mezcal. As his nose became accustomed to the smells of the restaurant below, his ear became accustomed to the sounds of the city – the calls hailing from street vendors and the symphony of guitars played by Mexico City’s roaming street musicians. Much of BIRDSONGS, Vol. 2 was written there, reflecting the vibrant nightlife and restless adventures of Mexico City.

To put the final touches on the project, Baird moved from CDMX to LA, where he worked alongside his brother and trusted collaborator Gabe (aka Goldwash). Gabe has been Baird’s closest musical collaborator since their Beatles cover band when Baird was just six years old and with the quarantine setting in, it felt like the right time to lock in and finish the project by his side.