If you’re unfamiliar with the brooding, danse macabre sounds of Brighton quartet Birdeatsbaby, now’s the time to open your ears. With album three on the way and live performances to die for, the four-piece have their sights set on a dominant 2014. And when you have the praise of scores of music critics as well as a budding cult following behind you, a dominant 2014 may be exactly what you get.
‘The Bullet’ is the release that starts the year; the lead single from upcoming record The Bullet Within, setting the tone for an album that it’s difficult not to get over-excited for. It’s a generally upbeat four minutes of music, though in an Amanda Palmer-like fashion where any instrumental light-heartedness is not necessarily carried across to the track’s lyrical content. It’s certainly open to interpretation, though vocalist Mishkin Fitzgerald’s ability is far less disputable. It becomes hard to decide on a favourite element of the band, between their diversity in sound and the quality of vocals. ‘Drinking in the Day’ puts Fitzgerald’s voice back in the spotlight in a more somber piece, as the track builds up slowly – a similar template to Muse’s ‘Feeling Good’, though a little more muted than the Origin of Symmetry single. The Muse comparison is well-timed, with ‘Drinking in the Day’ being joined by its fellow B-side, a cover of ‘Muscle Museum’ that sounds simply magnificent, arguably a challenger to the original in terms of pure all-round enjoyability.
Earlier in the Birdeatsbaby timeline is second album Feast of Hammers. ‘Anchors’ immediately jumps out as a highlight, a simple piano-meets-vocals track at first before the instrumental backing swells with the track nearing its half-way mark. Birdeatsbaby are certainly adept at the art of amorphous song-writing, with no consistent style across much of their music. It’s evident when measuring ‘Anchors’ up to the likes of the deliciously dark ‘Incitatus’ and towering effort ‘Through Ten Walls’, and the changes of direction throughout the album are certainly a mark in its favour. While you never quite know where Birdeatsbaby are heading on the next track, or even in the next minute, it’s never anywhere outside of their considerably large-spanning comfort zone. ‘Tastes Like Sympathy’ follows on from ‘Through Ten Walls’ on the album as one of the best lyrical works that it delivers. The combination of Fitzgerald’s piano work and the violin of Tessa Gilles is by now ingrained as a core element of the band, central to their sound with neither ever sounding out of place or seeming to overpower the other.
You can dive even further into the band’s back catalogue and the end results are the same: perfectly executed classically enthused rock that refuses to age, sounding just as good on the first listen as on the fiftieth. It’s not for nothing that debut album Here She Comes a-Tumblin’ has four different variations of “cabaret” amongst its tags, the record certainly carries the dark sound of a dimly lit floorshow. Whether it’s the ebb and flow of ‘I Always Hang Myself With the Same Rope’, the power waltz on offer in ‘Shiver Up the Spine’, or the hauntingly magnificent title track, Birdeatsbaby are on form from start to finish on their debut full-length release.
Momentum is high for the four-piece from Brighton as they gear up for the release of their third album, and all signs point to it being a must-have. Ask anyone familiar with the band, however, and you’ll most likely hear two things. One is an affirmation of their quality on record, but the second will be urging you to experience them live. It’s advice you should take without question, as Birdeatsbaby are a band to live by.
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For Fans of: Amanda Palmer, Muse, Moulettes
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