From the first soaring note of “You and I” to the music box melody of “Bowery,” Hummingbird sets up the Local Natives as one of the most influential indie bands of 2013. The Los Angeles-based band has spent the three years since the release of its first album, Gorilla Manor, frequenting the music festival circuit and performing alongside folk/pop sensations Coldplay, Modest Mouse and Foo Fighters. This live exposure heightened the anticipation for the sophomore album, and the three-year writing and performing spree appears to have paid off.  Hummingbird is currently the No. 3 album on iTunes, and fans show no sign of waning enthusiasm.
 
Hummingbirdpicks up where Gorilla Manor left off: surfing the Orange County waves through sublime, tightly bound harmonies and driving percussion.  Kelsey Ayers’s voice transitions smoothly between the powerful verses and the subdued choruses and the heavily percussed tracks implore the listener’s heartbeat to alter its rhythm and to fall in line with the mission the Local Natives are trying to accomplish with its music.
 
The mission presented by the lyrics on Hummingbird is more complex than that of Gorilla Manor. The confidence gained by the group after the success of its first album and the avid and loyal fan base incited the Local Natives to tackle heavier themes on this album than the last. “Columbia” is actually a tribute to a member’s late mother, and it begs an answer from the listener to the repetitive question, “Am I giving enough?” The album is also characterized by blatant lyrics, such as the harsh “I don’t have to see you right now” repeated time and time again in “Mr. Washington.” Metaphorical lyrics are also dappled throughout the album, especially on the most popular track “Breakers” – “waiting for my words to catch like/I’m trying to strike a match that’s soaking wet.”
 
The new-fangled folk sound of Local Natives is revived once more in Hummingbird. It flits about in a surprising flow, just like the bird of its title. This album is an investment for fans of the Fleet Foxes, Freelance Whales and Passion Pit, because the Local Natives have proved it’s no longer the new kids on the block. The band members are here to stay with their clever evasion of the sophomore slump.