When UK-born, Rotterdam, Netherlands-based DJ and producer Birds (real name Katie Wilkinson) started composing the tracks for her debut album, she noticed a recurring theme in the vocal lines: they were all related to being, leaving or returning to some kind of “home”. Probably because she moved from the UK to the Netherlands less than 6 months earlier and was still going through the traumatizing visa process. This led her to ask herself the philosophical question of what exactly is home. The album explores this situation and the problems, issues, and emotions it raises.
In Birds‘ own words: “Home can be so many things… It can be permanent, it can be temporary, it can be the feeling of surrendering to bad habits, it can be that familiar spot on a dance floor, your favorite seat in a bar, the people you surround yourself with, feeling a sense of freedom, your family base… The possibilities are endless. It’s a word that cannot really be defined.”
In terms of sound and genres, the album is a deep dive into Birds‘ Bass, Breaks, and Electro influences, with the occasional signature fuzzy guitar hook reminiscent of their earlier dark-wave material. Take Control is an Electro hitter that wouldn’t be out of place on a Radioactive Man record, with a simple (but effective) 3-note Moog bassline. In the semantics proposed and the experiences lived by the Dutch artist, Take Control is a call to take charge of all experiences, first of all, and then pour them into the artistic work, in this case, in the debut album of Birds.
As for the sound, immersed in darkness the atmosphere is always menacing and yet there is always a hint of warmth and security very palpable. This ambivalence unfolds in electro, bass, and precise acid drops. When the ambience ceases and the emptiness takes over the sound, everything is suspended for seconds, while the vocals take over, taking control. The whole album is a journey in itself, traversing bass genres all the way through.
Artist: Birds
Title: Home
Label: Feed The Void
Catalog: FTV 004
Distributor: Tunecore / Bandcamp
All tracks written and produced by Katie Wilkinson.
Mastering by Sam Berdah.
Artwork by Johana Pejic.
Photo by Leroy Verbeet.
Voice notes in ‘Prelude’ by: Iain Mac, Lauren Crawford, Pedro Braga, Anastasia Zems, Ramon Klomp, Ian Bode and Dina Brudi-Pascal.
Release Date: July 26th. 2024
Support & Buy on Bandcamp
Tracklist
1. Prelude
2. Home
3. HWFG
4. Charlois
5. Take Control
6. Devil’s Dance
7. The Mansions Of Saigon
8. Freedom Is A State Of Mind
9. Final Destiny
10. There’s No Place Like Home
11. True Peace Found Her In The End
Birds
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