Review Summary: An album that does absolutely nothing different, but showcases a vocalist that perhaps should have fell into the "teenage sensation" category throughout a 44-minute runtime comprised mostly of cover songs
With a voice as delicate as glass and a passion for singing evident in her every recording, Birdy announced herself to the world with covers of both Ed Sheeran's 'A Team' and Bon Iver's seminal 'Skinny Love'. At the tender age of just fifteen, it would have been easy for her to become swept up in the overwhelming "next big thing" hyperbole surrounding the latter of these two songs and to record an overly processed, forced out debut record comprised entirely of songs written soullessly by a dozen different musicians, only to be forgotten after making a pretty penny. Instead, our subject took a completely different route, although one perhaps better fitting her at that moment in time, capturing her ability to cover songs in a completely different manner to the original versions in an album comprised almost entirely of such recordings, with just one slot saved for her own track. Whilst this record did nothing to set the world alight, it is certainly an enjoyable collection of songs sung expertly.
Discussing the music here in abundance would be pointless, as the majority of these are not original tracks. However, changing the instrumentations to a mostly stripped-back piano-and-vocals format provides a platform for Birdy's voice to shine through. Her version of Skinny Love showcases perfectly the range she possesses, from the long ringing, heart-rending notes towards the end, to the morose-sounding chorus tones. This is a passionate version of an already great song, and it is perhaps this aspect of the album that stands out the most here. Birdy is clearly enjoying what she is doing, and makes no effort to really push the songs themselves into uncharted territories, instead relying upon her undeniable talent. People Help The People is one of the standouts here, with the calm music backing "I'll be cold as a stone" leading into a beautiful instrumental break, before Birdy truly shines atop this renewed musical extravagance. Perhaps one of the more noteworthy efforts here is Birdy's attempt at covering James Taylor's 'Fire And Rain,' and it is a truly striking effort. Whilst this version lacks the raw emotional impact of the original, what it does have is one of the most confident and varied vocal performances on the album, with the second verse truly feeling as though she has left Earth.
Lingering upon the covers no longer, it feels only appropriate to discuss the one original track here. Entitled 'Without A Word', it opens with a brief sample, before some absolutely gorgeous piano work rings out. The way that Birdy manages to weave her vocal lines and the more intricate piano fingering around each other to create something that feels truly impactful is surprising, and to hear lyrics that have somer personal significance to the artist is a great shake-up to an otherwise formulaic - though great - album. The way that the piano segments are adjusted as the song progresses, and we hear both the strained and pained side of her voice in the space of just under five minutes really provides something extra to an already good value package. I would sum up a consideration of this song in much the same way as the album overall, which is to say that it doesn't bring anything fresh to the table, but is well executed and shows off Birdy as a really great vocalist, if anybody needed any additional confirmation of that. I don't recommend people go out their way to listen to the album, but it is a solid listen if given the opportunity, and the cover of Skinny Love still stands tall as her finest effort.
