Bird – My Fear and Me

Album Review by Gary Kaill | 07 May 2014
Album title: My Fear and Me
Artist: Bird
Label: Baltic Records
Release date: 19 May

Bird fashion mood so deftly, securing their soundscapes to their own distinct and fascinating rhythm: bass and drums (toms trump snare) propel the songs. Adele Emmas’ flinty vocals, a voice uncommonly clean and free, give them definition and bite. Brooding opener Ghost has a flavour of PINS' Eleventh Hour. The Rain Song is an almost wordless, euphoric incantation. But it’s the pulsing I Am the Mountain, arriving part way through, that confirms the breadth of Bird’s intent.

Hopefully, they’ll catch the same wave that Daughter did, another act who placed craft, feel and space before overt pop sensibilities to gain both identity and, with it, a loyal and sizeable audience. And as with Daughter, here’s a set of songs that reach for the dark side of your consciousness. Songs? They’re more than songs. They’re vast, haunted tableaux, earthy and primal. They’re dusky confessionals, a beguiling shadowplay that bruises, intoxicates and surrounds. My Fear and Me delivers on Bird’s early promise and then some. 

Playing Glasgow Broadcast on 5 Jun http://birdofficial.tumblr.com