Surely there’s no way in hell that Andrew Bird, known for his protective layers of metaphor and arch penchant for navel-gazing, could strip away his insecurities to find the soul of Bill Withers. But that’s exactly what happens on “Capsized,” the leadoff single from the singer and violinist’s 10th album. It might just be the funkiest—not to mention the most personal—song he’s ever done, and of course, it’s just one of many different approaches he takes on Are You Serious (no question mark, in yet another Bird-worthy point of ambiguity). Tracked and produced by Tony Berg in LA with a smoking-hot band that includes guitarist Blake Mills and the ever-incisive Fiona Apple (who guests on the old-timey, acoustic, salon ditty “Left Handed Kisses”), the album does indeed transport Bird to solemn, sometimes brutal ground. On the deceptively upbeat “Truth Lies Low,” he digs into the blame game and all its dark permutations, while on the epic “Valleys of the Young,” he wrestles with the beauty and terror of bringing a child into the world (“Our hearts are constantly breaking/ from their cradle to our grave/ is it selfish/ is it brave?”). In fact, Bird seems to have shocked himself with his own vulnerability, but the revelation plays to his strengths; when his voice cracks on “believe in this holy valley,” you know he means it.