Album Review: Wallis Bird – Wallis Bird
3 min read
Irish singer-songwriter Wallis Bird is approaching the release of her third studio album which is released this coming Monday. The release of her latest self titled collection continues Bird’s successful journey that has been graced with critical acclaim and live support slots to some of the UK’s top acts including The Feeling, Gabrielle and Rodrigo y Gabriela.
Famed for her highly expressive and progressive releases, Bird is one of the most influential artists to emerge from Ireland in recent years. With her unconventional upside down guitar playing style brought on by the loss of 5 fingers after a lawnmower accident at a young age, Bird pushed through boundaries of hardship and challenges to become one of Ireland’s most respected artists.
With the release of her latest self titled record we are taken through a stunning track-listing, balanced between accelerated pop and beautiful balladry.
A gentle guitar picked rhythm guides us into the track-listing with the defiant, Dress My Skin And Become What I’m Supposed To. Lyrically blunt, Bird opens the track with the bold statement of “you don’t know shit” but before we get the chance to be offended the track unfolds into a metaphorically vibrant opener with Bird’s vocals sitting centre stage around a minimalistic instrumentation and some eerie vocal chants.
Dress My Skin And Become What I’m Supposed To is followed perfectly by the energetic and musically effervescent I Am So Tied Of The Line. An electrically charged guitar structure joins forces with a very lively Bird on the records clear standout addition.
Encore is another highlight in the albums opening half. The number secured a quality three minute rock out on the record and is a defining moment for Bird who displays a vocal force rare in the pop industry of late.
Vigorous power chords are exchanged for mid-tempo balladry with the beautifully executed Take Me Home. Bouncing along to the optimistic closing lyrics of “I’m almost there” the track dons a complimenting acoustic feel before the incredible In Dictum puts Bird’s exquisite songwriting talents in the spotlight as she unfurls some engaging lines of lyrical genius including “I’ve left people hanging on a stick or a word if their grip grew tight” as she roars over a heavily strum guitar with conviction and belief beside one of the records most anthemic chorus’.
A deep bass and some toe tapping, hand clapping moments ring out on the whistling Heartbeating City. The track takes the role of the most animated and sugary addition to Wallis Bird and breaks up the seriousness of the surrounding tracks, providing us with an island-life pop ditty. Short at just over two minutes but memorable within the 41 minute collection it is followed by Who’s Listening Now which shows a gutsy Bird ripping through a storming rhythm that presents us with an angst laden, uptempo gem.
The self titled follow up to her debut, Spoons and the 2009 release, New Boots, Wallis Bird is a collection displaying versatility and contradiction in its most honest and eccentric form.
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