song premiere: "Our Bed Our Door" & "Pigeon Chested Boy" - Miracle Worker

photo: John Osterholt

words: Gordon Phillips

Miracle Worker, the moniker under which Annie Sullivan releases energetic and catchy pop songs, is premiering its new two-track single “Our Bed Our Door/Pigeon Chested Boy” today.  If namedrops do anything for you, a number of The World is a Beautiful Place and I am No Longer Afraid to Die contributors are involved with Miracle Worker to varying degrees—Chris Teti produced the two-song single (as if that snare tone doesn’t give him away), Josh Cyr played bass and Dylan Balliett added guitar.  

If the namedropping turned you off or if you aren’t a TWIABP fan, listen to these songs anyway.

“Our Bed Our Door” starts with Sullivan’s double-tracked vocals over a stereo pair of swinging acoustic guitars.  Tastefully distorted chords drift into the mix as the first chorus rolls around and the hook is undeniable.  A boisterous and pristinely recorded drum accompaniment splits the song in two by the second chorus and carries momentum through the finale.  At the song’s apex, Sullivan’s vocal harmonies stack and weave around the chorus melody as a male refrain surfaces just in time to fade out.

Where “Our Bed Our Door” carefully builds momentum over the length of the song, the two-minute “Pigeon Chested Boy” arrives immediately.  Sullivan’s bare verses dance atop a snarling bass line and equally energetic, floor tom-heavy drum set performance.  “Pigeon chested boy/hollow as a sparrow/pigeon chested boy/on the straight and narrow,” Sullivan sings as the song’s compact chorus over restrained guitar lines.  After a sawing guitar bridge, Sullivan delivers a third verse and a final double chorus before the song is gone as suddenly as it arrived.  

Memorable production and capable instrumental accompaniment aside, Sullivan’s knack for melody and apt vocal deliveries are at the root of Miracle Worker’s staying power.

The single is now available here.