25 Records of Christmas, Day 23: Birdy

Last year, Adele topped my list. In fact, she topped a lot of lists, and for good reason. Having the best selling record of the past nearly 5 years will do that. Early this year I thought I’d have a repeat in my top record of the year, with a female singer gracing my top ten. While she is a certain kind of special, Birdy didn’t make my number one record. But she did come in at number 3. Her debut self-titled record came out early in 2012, and I’ve been spinning it weekly, if not more, ever since.

Birdy, in case you don’t know, is a 16 year old female singer-songwriter slash YouTube star from the UK. She released her debut in the UK late last year, but it didn’t come out her until March 2012. She was discovered when she was 14 by Warner through her piano covers on YouTube, and in some respects, the rest is history. The entire debut album is covers, sans one original “Without a Word”. She’s most known for her chilling cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love”. The tune will make you cry, flat out. Nothing against Bon Iver, because his song is brilliant. But I didn’t know it was a love song until I heard Birdy sing the lyrics with such passion and heartfelt conviction.

Birdy won her first musical award at 12 years old.

The rest of the record is a conglomeration of indie rock covers, but stripped down to their bare essentials, and Birdy plays piano better than I’m sure most of us did at 16. Another drastically passionate tune is “People Help The People”, originally by Cherry Ghost, while the delicate piano sounds mixed with Birdy’s own harmonies make Fleet Foxes’ hit “White Winter Hymnal” a delight to listen to over and over. Birdy also puts her own spin on James Taylor’s hit “Fire and Rain”, but doesn’t give it too much of an update here. Although, her vocal performance on The XX's "Shelter" is nearly breathtaking.

One particularly deep and moving moment is Birdy’s soft rendition of “I’ll Never Forget You”, originally by Francis and the Lights. The reverb on her vocals, mixed with the simplistic piano and background oohs and ahhs take you to such a dark place, all the while keeping you afloat with her meaningful near-whispers. I was amazed at Birdy’s talent the first time I heard this track. Probably the most fun track here is her cover of “Young Blood” made popular by The Naked and Famous; the track connects piano and heavy percussion with a synth sound that gets stuck in your head, along with the chorus.

Since releasing this album of covers, Birdy has been featured on popular soundtracks with originals and even working on a tune with Mumford and Sons. With how good her covers are, it’ll be exciting in the next year or two to see where she lands as a singer-songwriter. Birdy also released a short live EP from London, seemingly only available on Spotify, which features many of the tracks on her debut. Go check out this young, brilliant musician, and you won’t be disappointed.