World Cafe Next: Birds Of Chicago

This week's World Cafe: Next discovery is Birds Of Chicago, a group centered on the voices of Allison Russell and JT Nero. The band began in 2012 when Nero started writing songs for Russell, who'd previously been in the Canadian roots group Po'Girl.

In Birds Of Chicago's new album, Real Midnight, the hard-touring band hits its stride. Russell and Nero's folk-gospel sound finds a perfect co-conspirator in producer Joe Henry. These are special songs and ecstatic performances; hear two in the downloadable segment above.