Some of you may have heard of Birdy (née Jasmine van den Bogaerde), the British teenager that wowed music critics everywhere when she released a cover of Bon Iver’s Skinny Love last year. In November she released her debut album, self-titled Birdy.
At 15 years old, Birdy has accomplished much–but this album is anything but impressive. There is no denying she is a star, however, most of all the tracks on her albums are moody, piano ballads, with music videos to match. Birdy runs through a dark forest, looking anguished. Birdy bangs away at the piano with tormented eyes. Birdy rides the bus as she stares out the window. Little creativity is brought to the production of her music videos. She seems to base her fame solely on her singing abilities, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but her music is dull and uncreative as well. She provides nothing catchy or memorable. Many of her best works are covers of other songs.
Maybe Birdy’s voice just sounds better when she’s singing sad breakup songs. But after ten tracks of this, it’s getting hard to differentiate between them. Many of them sound eerily similar. In fact, the album could just be the same melancholy funeral anthem song playing over and over again.
Birdy is not the kind of artist to take seriously. Listen to her version of Skinny Love, the song that skyrocketed her to fame, and it’s the only song on her new album that deserves recognition. But the heavy piano music, the mopey lyrics, and her beautifully dreary voice, makes Birdy a rather weak and disappointing debut. This album gets a C+ at best.
I recon I have listened to her album 250 times.