Jade Bird: Jade Bird

The number of young—often Gen Z-young—musicians finding streaming success before ever releasing an album continues to grow. Maggie Rogers’ “Alaska” accumulated viral hype and millions of streams years before it found a home on her debut album Heard It In A Past Life. Thanks to SoundCloud, “Ocean Eyes” brought Billie Eilish overnight fame almost three years before she’d release WHEN WE FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? at the ripe old age of 17. And, most recently, Lil Nas X galloped his way to the number one spot on the Billboard Top 100 with country/trap crossover “Old Town Road,” one of only two songs on his Spotify page.
In other words, singles are often overpowering albums in the streaming age, which means we’re going to see a lot more of artists like Eilish, Rogers and Jade Bird, the powerhouse British vocalist and songwriter who nabbed the opening slot on that mystical Jason Isbell/Father John Misty tour. The 21-year-old musician has more than 1.6 million monthly Spotify listeners thanks to early hits like “What Am I Here For” (which has more than 12 million streams as of this writing) and “Lottery” (more than 10 million), all of which preceded a full-length release of any kind. Five of the 12 songs on her dynamite self-titled debut are singles—catchy, exorbitant rockers that have helped her gain acclaim at South By Southwest, on late night television and in the music media over the past few years. Let it be known far and wide that Bird, who sings with a vigorously charged rasp comparable only to that of Amy Winehouse, Adele and/or Janis Joplin, has one of the most distinct voices of any singer/songwriter to emerge from any genre recently. She sounds like the adopted child of Joplin and Leslie Feist, or Cat Power and Grace Potter.
Thematically, however, Jade Bird is an album of loose change, a pocketful of shiny, well-written nuggets that might give off a lot of flash individually but when put together don’t equal the sum of their parts. Thankfully, Bird’s singular musical style—a chalky blend of roots-rock, country and pop—and her mighty, mighty roar cancel out any thematic fumbles entirely and make Jade Bird one of the more impressive solo debuts of the year so far.