Jasmine Van Den Bogaerde finally came into her own with her sophomore record Fire Within, as she began writing her own songs and singing her own melodies. Beautiful Lies shows how far she's come, as at only nineteen, she's released one of the more mature and enjoyable chamber pop albums so far this year. It really hits the ground running with the immeasurably catchy "Growing Pains", and from then on the tone is set. The instrumentation is nice and sparse, but not drenched in reverb or heavy bass. It's delicate and sweet, and Bogaerde's voice takes center stage as the defining aspect of the album. She does very well on most every song here, but it's penultimate track "Unbroken" where she really kicks it into a gear few singers her age can get to. In the end, Beautiful Lies is Birdy's first truly great record, and if it's any indication of what's to come in the future, that can only be a good thing.
Bump |
