Art is a powerful thing. And it is in the modern world, with all its darkness and growing authoritarianism, the entrenchment of ideas, marginalisation, and a growing sense of disenfranchisement, that such a force is more relevant than ever. We must remember that resistance comes in many forms, and art is just one of them, something that sparks debate, something that is a sign, a calling card, a statement that shouts, this is who we are, and we will not be ignored.
I didn’t ask to be a bird is indeed an act of resistance, and an album of songs that range from intense synth-generated rock to understated pop and whose constant theme is the power of vulnerability. Surely, it is only when you can shout from the rooftops, “this is who I am, “_ unsure of the response, that you truly experience honesty, that and a sense of having been seen.
So we move from the energetic, bubbling beats of the opening salvo, “when i was done dying,” through the ever-growing indie-rock roar of “love sonnet for mikey” and on to the martial, beat-driven energy of “sisyphean.”
“tobias” is where the album turns a corner, an almost a capella song put to a funereal drum tattoo, all the better to capture the power and poignancy of the song. From here, there is a softening, via the beautiful, voice and piano balladry of “treading water,” the luminescence and space of “rainfall” and the gentle electro-waltz that is “a fly up on the wall.”
Never has a record sounded simultaneously so defiant and so sublime, so poignant and so beautiful.
Facebook
Instagram
TikTok
Website
Discover more from Dancing About Architecture
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
