Club d’Elf Reimagines Grateful Dead’s ‘Bird Song,’ Announces ‘Loon & Thrush’ Album

Club d’Elf announced they will release their next studio album, Loon & Thrush, on April 10 via Royal Potato Family. Today, the Boston-based music collective unveiled a Moroccan-infused version of the Grateful Dead’s “Bird Song,” the latest taste and opening track of the 10-song release.

Loon & Thrush was recorded entirely live in the studio with minimal overdubs. The LP marks Club d’Elf’s first since Brahim Fribgane died in 2024. The Moroccan oud player and percussionist was a member of the group dating back to 1999. The album was heavily influenced by Fribgane and the teachings he left behind.

“Going into the recording of this album was a very heavy time for the band, as we had just lost Brahim, who was a core member,” bandleader Mike Rivard said. “This would be the first album we had done without him, and the thought of never being able to play with him again was a reality that was very hard to grasp.”

As previously reported, Club d’Elf fit two Grateful Dead covers on the follow-up to 2022’s You Never Know. The band put their own spin on “New Speedway Boogie” featuring Rivard on sintar in addition to “Bird Song.”

Mike Rivard shared the following about Club d’Elf covering the Dead:

“The Dead were such a huge influence on me as a teenager in the late ‘70s, and I traveled all over the Midwest where I grew up to see them play. Their trippy, improvisational side was what really drew me in, as well as the culture that surrounded the band, and the sense of tribal community. Even though our sound is very different, the Dead’s music has always been part of my DNA. It seemed time to acknowledge and honor that connection, and I started messing around with ‘Bird Song,’ playing it over a North African chaabi groove that Brahim Fribgane had taught us to play. Brahim was our direct connection to the Moroccan traditions that inspired us, but he passed away before he could record the album with us. Even though he isn’t physically present on the track, I felt his spirit guiding us in the studio. Duke Levine — of Bonnie Raitt’s band — plays the melody on electric sitar, giving it this beautifully distinctive sound. The jam in the middle has a Dead-goes-to-Morocco vibe, and with Bob Weir’s recent passing, we’re dedicating it to him, to Jerry and Phil, and to Brahim.”

“Bird Song” comes on the heels of “Loon & Thrush,” the album’s title track. Stream Club d’Elf’s take on the classic Grateful Dead song below:

Loon & Thrush Tracklist

1. Bird Song
2. Loon and Thrush
3. Left Hand of Clyde
4. Softly
5. New Speedway Boogie
6. Second Line
7. Dux Lux
8. Atlas Mountain Hop
9. Like a Silence
10. Level Up Your Soul