Album Review: Birdy- Beautiful Lies

To avoid radio presenters making complete tools of themselves attempting to sandwich Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde into a link, the great niece of matinee idol Dirk Bogart goes under the much snappier childhood nickname of Birdy.

After introducing herself to the world with idiosyncratic covers of Bon Iver, Ed Sheeran and The XX, Birdy has co-written her third album with a bunch of One Direction’s regular songwriters – further proof, if it was needed, that we’re living in some kind post-genre hades.

The album is a huge missed opportunity. First single ‘Keeping Your Head’ is far too bombastic and – despite considerable hype – failed to make an impact on the charts in January.

Birdy’s second album, Fire Within, benefitted from its very sparse and refreshingly simple production. When she takes a similar approach here – such as on the wonderfully direct ‘Silhouette’ – the results are impressive, but it’s far from enough to salvage the record.

Unfortunately, Beautiful Lies strangles the soul and sparkle out of a very promising artist for a misguided shot at mainstream success.

4/10