Birds Of Chicago, Birds Of Chicago, album review Birds of Chicago is a collaboration between Chicago's JT Nero (as in JT & the Clouds) and Vancouver's Allison Russell (Po' Girl) and their organic harmonies and wistful styles sustain a lovely new album of Americana called Birds Of Chicago. A problem with some 'country' albums is a uniformity of material, no matter how well executed, but Birds Of Chicago excels through the sheer variety and complexity of its sound. The bouncy bass grooves of Trampoline, sit alongside the Cajun zest of Sans Souci. That this catchy song was sung in Spanish (with harmony vocals from Awna Teixeira), somehow makes it more enjoyable. The harmonies on the upbeat Flying Dreams are radiant and Galaxy Ballroom is a sweet waltz, featuring some languid piano by Drew Lindsay. There are shades of The Band recognisable throughout an album which has clever and quirky songwriting, as on JT's Moonglow Tapeworm. I particularly liked the mournful Old Calcutta, which includes the lines: 'Then someone comes along and says that Pluto's not a planet, oh I wish with all my heart he had not said it.'