Birdy (Birdy album)

Birdy is the debut studio album by English musician Birdy, released on 4 November 2011 by Atlantic Records. The album includes the singles "Skinny Love", "Shelter", "People Help the People" and "1901".

Critical reception
The album received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the album received a score of 61 based on 10 critics. AllMusic's Jon O'Brien wrote that "this stripped-back collection of lesser-known hits and album tracks reads like a who's who of lo-fi hipster indie rock", praising Birdy's "youthful and fragile" voice, and concluding that "thanks to her haunting tones and a tasteful yet compelling production, it impressively avoids being the try-hard affair you'd expect." . The BBC's Nick Levine wrote "A clever covers set from the 15-year-old singer, which points to a great future". The Daily Telegraph wrote "This debut consolidates the buzz with more sparse, affecting covers (the XX, James Taylor), and a lone original track that is adequately folkish, but for now Birdy remains a novelty." The Guardian praised "Birdy's simple piano/guitar arrangements and her own sweet voice", but called the album "pleasant but pointless". "With a voice that defies her tender years, Birdy... has found herself very quickly touted as one of the brightest up-and-coming talents in the UK.", musicOMH wrote. NME called it "an album of wet-indie covers". The Observer praised "Skinny Love" and "Shelter", but her rendition of "Fire and Rain" was less successful. Of her one original track, they wrote " "Without a Word" suggests she might become even more than just a startling voice.". PopMatters wrote "On her debut album full of indie-rock covers, this 15 year-old proves that she can really sing; but Birdy's appeal may depend on how much enjoy desperate, aching piano ballads, because there are a lot of them here. The Rolling Stone review, probably the most critical, read, "The result is the most boring music ever recorded by a teenager. No one so young should have such flawless taste in Quality Indie Rock, or sound this bummed out.". "Terrible Love" would appear at the end of sixteenth episode of eighth season of Grey's Anatomy.

Singles
"Skinny Love" was released on 30 January 2011 as the first single from the album, which was a cover of a song by American indie folk band Bon Iver. The cover reached a peak of number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Shelter" was released as the second single from the album on 3 June 2011. The song covers a track by English indie pop group The xx and peaked at number 50 in the UK.

"People Help the People" was released as the album's third single on 28 October 2011. The song is a cover of the song by English indie rock band Cherry Ghost and peaked at number 33 in the UK.

"1901" was released in the UK on 9 March 2012 as the album's fourth and final single. It is a cover of the song by French indie rock band Phoenix.

Track listing

 * Notes
 * undefined signifies an additional producer

Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Birdy.


 * Birdy – vocals, piano
 * Jim Abbiss – drum machine, production
 * Leo Abrahams – effects, guitar
 * Ben Baptie – mixing assistance
 * Jess Barratt – management
 * Rupert Bogarde – engineering
 * James Brown – engineering
 * Ian Burdge – cello
 * Greg Calbi – mastering
 * Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion
 * Alessandro Cortini – synthesisers
 * Rich Costey – engineering, mixing, noise, production, strange noises, synthesisers
 * Paul Craig – management
 * Neil Cowley – organ, piano
 * Dan Curwin – back cover photograph
 * Ian Dowling – engineering
 * Lauren Dukoff – photography


 * Tom Elmhirst – mixing
 * James Ford – drums, guitar, percussion, production
 * Wally Gagel – bass
 * Alex H. N. Gilbert – A&R, additional production, executive production, production, studio photography
 * Kirk Hellie – guitar
 * Gareth Henderson – engineering
 * Chris Kasych – assistant engineering
 * Alex MacNaghten – bass
 * Stephen Webster Mair – double bass
 * Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards, piano, synthesisers
 * Audrey Riley – string arrangements, string conducting
 * Lucy Shaw – cello
 * Christian Tattersfield – executive production
 * Christopher Tombling – orchestra leader
 * Paul 'P-Dub' Walton – additional production, engineering, mixing
 * Richard Woodcraft – engineering