Confetti

Band/Artist: Little Birdy
Label: Eleven Music

Romantic interlude

Little Birdy return this month with their third album Confetti and it’s an enchanting recoil to their original organic acoustic embellishments. I say this because I wasn’t the hugest fan of their previous offering Hollywood. It just didn’t seem to capture Little Birdy’s essence to me. They burst onto the scene with an irreverent and exciting album Big Big Love way back in 2005 which showcased not only their secret weapon Katy Steele’s ability for songwriting but they delivered a guitar onslaught. Hollywood as a follow-up appeared to diverge to a focus on keyboard and synthesized sounds and that’s not to say they didn’t win a huge following with that direction it just didn’t seem to fit the Little Birdy niche they’d created for themselves so beautifully.

My fears were allayed however once the opening track to Confetti got underway. 'Brother' shows what, good old fashioned guitar and brilliant lyrics can do for a song. As well, harmonica played by music man Paul Kelly gives this track something a little special.

In fact the band have utilised various instruments throughout the album: 'Porcelain', Simon Leach’s own contribution to the album is performed with piano backing but the layering of strings brass and even a theremin give all the tracks on this album many layers, of course supported by the lyrical wonderment of Ms Steele’s stories too.

If you’re looking for an underlying theme on Confetti, or genre of music, you might say it’s a bit country and a bit rock, but it’s also got some quite easily identified nuances towards Bacharach and Dusty Springfield. Title track 'Confetti', 'Into my arms' and 'Hair Do' help deliver this era in time.

My personal favourite though is 'Stay Wild'. It’s described as a driving song probably for its meandering and winding journey. Of course there is a climax and it’s beautifully supported with some string accompaniment - a gem in the album.

One can only imagine that the studio quality of the songs is replicated ten-fold in the upcoming live showings of the band. Confetti is a beautifully crafted re-incarnation of the Little Birdy romance.

Confetti is in-store from May 8; visit www.littlebirdy.net.au for details.

Ruth Bailey

To see a film clip of 'Brother' from Confetti, click the play button below

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