B-Side Guys

Musical saws don’t lie. When The Beard and the Bird deploy this most ethereal of instruments on their latest folk-jazz hybrid, the effect transcends novelty to become something genuinely haunting. “My Dearest Eloise” builds its vintage love story on a foundation of sounds that feel summoned from another era entirely.

The accordion provides earthbound counterpoint to the saw’s otherworldly wail, creating tension between the grounded and the mystical. This instrumental choice mirrors the song’s thematic content perfectly—long-distance love requires faith in things unseen, communication across impossible distances. The male-female vocal interplay adds another layer to this call-and-response dynamic, two voices reaching across space toward each other.

Folk music’s tendency toward nostalgia finds perfect expression in The Beard and the Bird’s deliberately archaic approach. Rather than feeling like costume drama, their “old fashioned” aesthetic serves the emotional content authentically. Distance makes every love feel vintage eventually, filtered through memory until it achieves sepia-toned perfection.

The jazz influence surfaces in the duo’s approach to space and timing. Like good jazz musicians, they understand that what you don’t play matters as much as what you do. The arrangement breathes, allowing each instrument its moment while maintaining overall cohesion. The musical saw, in particular, benefits from this restraint—used sparingly, it becomes magical rather than gimmicky.

“My Dearest Eloise” suggests that some emotions require specific instruments to achieve proper expression. The Beard and the Bird have assembled an unlikely orchestra for their distance-plagued romance, finding beauty in the spaces between conventional sounds.