John Moreland Announces New Album ‘Birds In The Ceiling’ & Shares Single

John Moreland will issue a new album, Birds In The Ceiling, via Old Omens/Thirty Tigers on July 22. The Tulsa, Oklahoma-based singer-songwriter also shared the single, “Ugly Faces.”

Birds In The Ceiling follows Moreland’s critically acclimated 2020 album, LP5. Moreland once again tapped Denton, Texas-based engineer Matt Pence, who also helmed LP5, to co-produce the new record.

“We have a lot of the same influences, and I have been really influenced by his bands,” Moreland said of Pence. “It feels really effortless.” The rapport between artist and engineer helped Moreland to expand his sound on the upcoming album and also tweak the lyrical style he is known for.

“While Moreland’s sound continues to evolve, the foundation for his songs remains built around his profound and pensive lyricism,” press materials for the new LP stated. “His warm vocals offer an emotional resonance that simultaneously exudes intensity and restraint, making Birds In The Ceiling an intimate listening experience that blurs genre lines. Moreland’s wide ranging musical tastes and influences inform Birds In The Ceiling more than in any of his previous work, with touches of folk, retro-pop, rock, roots and drum-programming.”

“Lyrically, Birds In The Ceiling almost feels as though Moreland is singing into a mirror,” the press release also noted, “talking to him himself directly and at times in the third person.”

“Through the years, I’ve felt like I’m increasingly talking to myself in my songs, more and more,” Moreland said. “Maybe in the past, I wasn’t aware of it, but now, I am. I think doing that has helped me be less hard on myself, which makes you more generous and compassionate in general.”

Moreland’s lyrical prowess can be heard on tracks like “Generational Dust,” “Lion’s Den,” “Dim Little Light,” “Cheap Idols” and the aforementioned single “Ugly Faces” among others.

Preview Birds In The Ceiling with a lyric video for “Ugly Faces” below: