Album Review: Wallis Bird, I Can See Your House From Here

There is a certain kind of pain that comes with loss. Such is the hard-fought and hard-won journey of Wallis Bird’s latest album, I Can See Your House From Here. This masterful work finds Bird sifting through the grief of losing a close friend, while also mourning the state of the world.

On opener 'And So Turns The Wheel', Bird – over wistful folk airs – invites us into her pain while painting a portrait of enduring love, confessing: “My tears are for you / I spend them with pride”. Across this journey of resolute vulnerability, Bird crafts a soundscape of shimmering vibrancy and optimistic progression. The gospel-hued, yet lyrically bruised ‘Call The Healer’, finds the singer pleading, “I want love more than anything”.

Alongside Bird’s personal loss runs a wider collective grief, as well. The incantatory ‘Why Is Peace Problematic?’ mixes picket-line confessionals and soulful strumming, to create something both mesmerising and anthemic.

On the penultimate track, layers of buoyant percussion and rhythmic guitar fortify the singer's supernova vocals, as she defiantly insists, “Until I crawl out of this life… I’m a witness”. And with that, us listeners bear witness to Wallis Bird’s greatness as both a writer and sonic polymath. Terrific stuff.

8.5/10