John Brodeur has always written songs that feel lived-in, but The Escape Artist pushes that instinct further, turning inward and tightening the frame. Released under the Bird Streets name, the album is a paranoid, guitar-driven record shaped by isolation, uncertainty, and the quiet anxiety that settled in during the early days of the pandemic.

Produced by Jason Falkner at his Los Angeles studio, The Escape Artist took shape slowly over four years, beginning when the world abruptly shut down. That stretch of time seeps into the album’s DNA. The songs move between claustrophobic folk, bright but uneasy indie-pop, and moments that veer into full-on punk-rock release, all held together by Brodeur’s melodic instincts and restless emotional pulse.

Though Bird Streets have evolved into a band in name, the album itself is largely a two-person operation. Brodeur and Falkner handle nearly all of the playing, leaning into a stripped-back, hands-on approach that keeps the songs direct and personal. A small circle of collaborators appears along the way, including Gina Romantini (Wallflowers, Jayhawks), Zach Jones (Sting), and Oscar Albis Rodriguez (A Great Big World), adding texture without disrupting the album’s close-quarters intensity.

Brodeur first adopted the Bird Streets name with his self-titled 2018 debut, a Falkner-produced release that blended classic melodic rock with modern urgency. The record earned early praise from PopMatters and NPR Music, which named Bird Streets a Slingshot Artist alongside rising names like Phoebe Bridgers and the Beths. It established Brodeur as a songwriter with a deep respect for pop structure and a refusal to smooth out the rough edges.

That scope widened on Lagoon, his second Bird Streets album, which brought in producers Pat Sansone and Michael Lockwood and featured appearances from Ed Harcourt, Aimee Mann, John Davis of Superdrag, Patrick Warren, and Big Star drummer Jody Stephens. The album balanced intimacy with scale, earning praise for its emotional weight and melodic depth.

The Escape Artist circles back to something more internal. Where Lagoon stretched outward, this new record narrows its focus, capturing the tension between wanting connection and needing distance. It’s rock music with melody front and center, but with a nervous energy underneath, the kind that lingers after the song ends.

For Brodeur, who began releasing music in 2000 with Tiger Pop and continued through solo records and projects with the Suggestions and Maggie Mayday, Bird Streets has become the clearest expression of his voice. On The Escape Artist, that voice sounds sharpened, restless, and very much of its moment.