As a member of Los Dos and the New American Ramblers, Michael David Neff provided a startlingly sincere, intelligent and soulful voice that helped to elevate the music beyond genre. This solo effort displays no shortage of that quality. Although clearly influenced by Dylan and Springsteen, Neff very much charts his own artistic territory throughout. "Now I See" masterfully merges delicacy of feeling with penetrating interpersonal insight. The instrumentation on "Harder Than Rain" sounds fascinatingly slightly out of focus, enhancing its sense of unresolved disquiet. Neff is a young man, but every song on this album is clearly the product of a mature artist. Kingdom of Birds can only have come from someone who has plumbed the depths of human emotion and reflected on life with a rare degree of honesty.