Currently Listening to:
Birdsong is a stripped back tune with intricate guitar, cello melodies and poetic lyrics. Through her rich and warm vocals, Harvey recounts the experience of singing to a bird and reflects on the complex relationships between human and animal natures. The accompaniment is gentle guitar fingerpicking, and the simplicity of this allows the singer the space to deliver a conversational performance and let her lyricism shine through. Her words are confessional, wondering, and elegant.
Within a track, sometimes less is more, and this is where Birdsong finds its success. The song’s production and instrumentation take a back seat and provide just the right amount of support to let Harvey’s sweet tone dominate. The addition of the cello line at the end (which is played by the singer herself), symbolising the bird singing its own song, is a nice touch and adds another layer of depth. Birdsong will be her second ever release, and after the success of her debut single Familiar, which received radio play from BBC Introducing Merseyside and Shell Zenner from Amazing Radio, its release is anticipated.
Birdsong forms part of a set of songs musing on faith of all kinds in a faithless world. Harvey notes that throughout the EP, there is a ‘continual dynamic of self and other throughout the songs, whether that be between me and a god figure, me and a lover, or me and myself’. This is where the record title came from, the faith is always Other, and ‘is teased apart and questioned, searching for answers within structures we think we understand’. Writing with questions is normal for Harvey and are often used as the foundation of her creative process.
Recorded with Gus White at The Barn in Wiltshire, the EP promises to deliver more ruminative soundscapes with delicate guitar, piano, harmonium and cello accompaniment. Taking inspiration from artists such as Adrianne Lenker and Laura Marling, the record hopes to bring a warmth, depth, and clarity to its listeners. After the EP’s release in May the singer will tour nationally with shows in Liverpool, Manchester, Durham, Leeds and London. There will also be a run of vinyls and CDs which can be pre-ordered on Harvey’s bandcamp, Music | Grace Elizabeth Harvey.
