Reviewing this album is tricky because it is an album of two halves. The first five songs are angry hard strumming protesty songs and then, as that starts to pall we move into five more eclectic and textured tunes almost like there’d been a change of government mid album and the Bluebyrd duo have become much happier with the state of the world.
Made up of songwriter Chris Rowley on guitars and vocals and Gareth Pask on keyboards, this is Bluebyrd’s second album and it really grew on me as it developed.
It came with the message;
“We hope people hear a truth in the music. Whether the songs are about being hoodwinked by the corrupt and powerful, finding your way through the social media maze, modern day paranoias, or simple moments of love and gratitude, we hope that people hear sincerity in our music.”
And clearly the well thought out and carefully crafted words are a fundamental part of the music and it is full of sincerity. The instrumentation is interesting for a guitar and keyboard duo as the keyboards definitely take the textural back seat, if only on the mp3 versions which I was listening too. Clear vocals with nice harmony lines when used, and good clarity of sound quality both help deliver a set of songs that I’d like to hear live in a folk club.
My favourite tracks all fall in the second half, particularly ‘Moving Into Your Scene’ and ‘Bluebird’ with its extra texture of the ethereal backing vocals, and ‘Not The Only Show In This Town’, all of which touch on interesting topics lyrically and textures tonally.
CD available from www.bluebyrdband.co.uk
Download available on the Bluebyrd Bandcamp page
By: Oliver Carpenter