Two Dark Birds open a new chapter with “Girl of Summer” and it doesn’t rush to impress you. It just stands there for a second. Then it slowly opens up. The band sounds locked in. Not in a flashy way. More like six people breathing at the same pace. You can tell they’ve been doing this for years. Everyone knows their role. No one overplays.
The vocals are warm. Raw. No heavy gloss, no tricks hiding behind effects. Just a voice carrying the weight of the words. The songwriting is strong. Direct. It sketches a single moment and lets it expand without forcing drama. The melodies are beautiful. Simple lines that stay with you longer than you expect.
Production is solid. Professional. Recorded live, and you can hear that space around the instruments. The mix is balanced and lets the keys, lap steel, and rhythm section sit naturally. The instrumentation is tight. Nothing wasted.
There’s something calm about this track, but underneath that calm is depth. It doesn’t shout. It holds steady. And that’s where its power sits. We really like how effortless this feels. It’s not trying to be big or trendy. It’s just a good song, played by a band that clearly trusts each other. And honestly, that confidence makes all the difference.
ABOUT THE BAND:
ABOUT TWO DARK BIRDS
Two Dark Birds is a band from the Catskill Mountains led by songwriter Steve Koester and drummer Jason Mills. They are joined by Josh Roy Brown (lap steel), Tyler Wood (keys), Iris Koester (vocals) and Mark Lerner (bass). Since 2008, they have released four critically acclaimed albums, as well as the 2022 EP Porous. Their fifth album Dreamers of the Golden Dream (Vol. 1) is due out February 27th on Vfib Records.
ABOUT STEVE KOESTER
Prior to Two Dark Birds, Koester also fronted the bands Maplewood, Koester and Punchdrunk, who altogether released eleven critically-acclaimed albums and toured extensively throughout the US and Europe. The music has been called “knockout gorgeous” and “timeless. . . great rock music” and has received glowing reviews everywhere from Fader and Nylon to The Village Voice and The NY Times, showing up on year-end “Best” lists in Magnet, Popmatters, Rhapsody, Disclaimer and more. Koester has also written, recorded and produced a wide variety of songs for film and TV, including features in Sideny Lumet’s “Before the Devil Knows Your Dead” and Laurie Collyer’s “Sherrybaby.”
