The Bird Calls’ New Album Puts a Wide-Ranging Record Collection to Work

Since 2012, Sam Sodomsky has released nearly three dozen records as The Bird Calls, building a Bandcamp catalog of singles, EPs, and full-lengths that has stayed mostly under the radar. Take Leave, made with longtime collaborator Ryan Weiner, brings that quiet consistency into sharper focus.

The album opens with stylistic turns that could read as a crate-digger’s notebook. “Some Bands” leans into a Gram Parsons-style country feel, “Means More Now” reaches for Phil Spector-era pop punch, and “To Everything There Is a Ceiling” eases into a Neil Young lope. But Sodomsky doesn’t treat influence as costume. The songs hold together because the writing is precise, especially on “Shadow Song,” where Sofia Wolfson’s harmonies lift a chorus about roles, separation, and daily routine.

Later, “Acid Mermaid” pairs late-period Wilco charm with a plainspoken declaration of love. Across the record, the sprawl suggests a smaller-scale companion to Jeff Tweedy’s 2025 triple album, not as imitation but as the same willingness to let different sounds carry emotional weight. Sodomsky’s background as a music journalist is audible less in name-dropping than in arrangement choices. Take Leave is varied without being scattered, and that balance is what makes it stick.