Young Heart
Studio album by
Birdy
Released30 April 2021 (2021-04-30)
Recorded2019–2020
Studio
Genre
Length58:21
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Birdy chronology
Piano Sketches
(2020)		 Young Heart
(2021)		 Portraits
(2023)
Singles from Young Heart
  1. "Surrender"
    Released: 22 January 2021
  2. "Loneliness"
    Released: 12 February 2021
  3. "Deepest Lonely"
    Released: 19 March 2021
  4. "Second Hand News"
    Released: 16 April 2021
  5. "Little Blue"
    Released: 8 July 2021

Young Heart is the fourth studio album by English singer-songwriter Birdy, released on 30 April 2021 by Atlantic Records. The album was announced on 22 January 2021 with the release of the first single "Surrender".[1]

Background

While reaching the end of the tour for her 2016 album Beautiful Lies, she admits to feeling that she was "acting a little bit" and instead wanted to capture the more quiet and gentle aspects of how she normally writes and sings songs alone.[2] In the four years after release of Beautiful Lies, Birdy took a break from releasing music, eventually reintroducing herself in November 2020 with the release of the EP Piano Sketches.[3][4]

In the period between Beautiful Lies and Young Heart, Birdy credits "writer's block" and the need for "some time to live a bit" as reasons why it took four years to finish the album.[5]

Before writing for the album began, Birdy suffered from a breakup and looked to the music of Etta James and Nina Simone for emotional support.[6] To get inspiration for writing and to shake the sadness of the breakup, Birdy took a three month hiatus to India with her sister, cousin and their friend before staying in a log cabin in Topanga, California for inspiration. Staying in the cabin gave the album a "kind of Laurel Canyon, seventies-like feel" according to Birdy.[7] The result is what she calls a "heartbreak album"[5] inspired by the Joni Mitchell album Blue.[8] The first track written for Young Heart was the title track "Young Heart" that acts as the "core of the record" and is the "most emotionally charged song" for Birdy.[9] The track "Loneliness" in contrast was originally written for 2016's Beautiful Lies but was set aside at the time for not fitting into that album.[9]

Recording

In a departure from the "big production" of the previous album, Birdy said that Young Heart is "quite stripped back – anything that didn't need to be there, isn't. There's no decoration".[10] To record the album, Birdy worked with producers Ian Fitchuk and Daniel Tashian who had previously worked on Kacey Musgraves' 2018 album Golden Hour.

The recording sessions for the album took place in Nashville.[11] The recording of the album was completed just before the COVID-19 pandemic hit in March 2020 and the album was intended to be released soon thereafter. It was delayed as a result of the pandemic but this allowed greater time for Birdy to reflect on the album and make small changes accordingly. While staying at her family home in New Forest during the pandemic, she set up a makeshift mixer studio in a cupboard and was finishing bits of the record at home.[7]

Promotion

On 15 April 2021, Birdy performed a livestreamed concert at Wilton's Music Hall in London accompanied by a band including eight string players, a clarinet player and a French horn player.[5] The show was shot by director Ed Coleman.[12] Kate Soloman for iNews rated the performance four out of five stars and called the livestreamed performance "a masterful livestream, full of beautiful noise".[13]

On 30 April, coinciding with the release of the album, Birdy held an album launch party on YouTube by performing a 7-song setlist decided by fans.[14]

Release

Young Heart was released on CD, cassette, vinyl and digital formats. An exclusive purple-coloured 140g vinyl LP is available from Birdy's website which is made from 100% recycled plastic and the LP inner and outer sleeves are made from 100% recycled paper. Each of these recycled pressings are unique as a result of being made from composite materials, a byproduct of wastage in pressing other vinyl records.[15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[16]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[17]
The Irish Times[18]
The Line of Best Fit7/10[19]
NME[20]
The Times[21]

Upon its release, Young Heart received critical acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 84, based on 4 critical reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[16]

The Times praised the album, awarding it four stars, for its "sentiments so uncynical and wide-eyed that it is impossible not to be charmed".[21] A four-star review from NME praised the album as a "gorgeous album that perfectly captures the meandering journey that heartbreak takes you on" and praised the more stripped back style of songs for allowing Birdy's emotions to come to the fore. However, the review criticised the momentum of the 16-song tracklist with "River Song" and "Little Blue".[20] Likewise, Lauren Murphy for The Irish Times writes that at times "Young Heart is too long-winded for its own good".[18] In contrast, a 7/10 review for The Line of Best Fit called it a "coherent addition to an already charming catalogue from Birdy" that is "consistent from start to finish".[19]

Track listing

Young Heart track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."The Witching Hour – Intro"
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
0:49
2."Voyager"
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
4:26
3."Loneliness"
James Ford3:22
4."The Otherside"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:26
5."Surrender"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
Ford3:54
6."Nobody Knows Me Like You Do"Van den BogaerdeBirdy4:57
7."River Song"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:45
8."Second Hand News"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Jonathan Wright
Ford4:08
9."Deepest Lonely"
Ford3:52
10."Lighthouse"
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:33
11."Chopin Waltz in A Minor (Interlude)"Frédéric Chopin
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
0:45
12."Evergreen"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Benjamin Jaffe
  • Wendy Wang
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:32
13."Little Blue"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Bastian Langebaek
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:03
14."Celestial Dancers"
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
5:19
15."New Moon"
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
3:32
16."Young Heart"
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
5:58
Total length:58:21
Amazon deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
17."Surrender" (accustic)
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Fitchuk
  • Tashian
4:12
18."Deepest Lonely" (accustic)
  • Van den Bogaerde
  • Ormandy
3:51
19."Open Your Heart"Van den Bogaerde3:45
20."Island Lights"Van den Bogaerde4:31
Total length:1:14:40

Personnel

Musicians

  • Jasmine Van den Bogaerde – vocals, guitar, piano, mellotron, synthesizer, organ
  • Ian Fitchuk – bass guitar, drums, mellotron
  • Daniel Tashian – synthesizer, background vocals, bass, mellotron
  • James Ford – synthesizer, 12-string guitar, drums, harmonium, hammond organ
  • Matt Combs – strings
  • Tyler Summers – bass clarinet, flute
  • Austin Hoke – cello

Production

  • Rachel Moore – assistant engineer
  • Cenzo Townshend – mixing engineer
  • Mark Stent – mixing engineer
  • Camden Clarke – assistant mixing engineer
  • Matt Wolach – assistant mixing engineer
  • Robert Sellens – assistant mixing engineer
  • Jonny Wright – additional production
  • Josh Moore – music editor
  • Stuart Hawkes – mastering engineer

Charts

Chart performance for Young Heart
Chart (2021) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[22] 25
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 19
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[24] 22
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[25] 18
French Albums (SNEP)[26] 90
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[27] 23
Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ)[28] 13
Irish Albums (IRMA)[29] 58
Scottish Albums (OCC)[30] 9
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[31] 11
UK Albums (OCC)[32] 4

Release history

Release history for Young Heart
Region Date Format Label Ref.
Various 30 April 2021 Atlantic [33][15][34][35]

Young Heart Tour

Young Heart
Tour by Birdy
Start date26 March 2023 (2023-03-26)
End date25 April 2023 (2023-04-25)
No. of shows19

Tour dates

List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, amount of available tickets and gross revenue
Date City Country Venue
2023
28 March Berlin Germany Tempodrom
30 March Wiesbaden Schlachthof
31 March Luxembourg City Luxembourg Den Atelier
1 April Stuttgart Germany Wagenhallen
3 April Munich Neue Theaterfabrik
4 April Vienna Austria Vienna Gasometers
5 April Zurich Switzerland Volkshaus
6 April Lausanne Les Docks
8 April Hamburg Germany Fabrik
9 April Cologne Carlswerk Victoria
10 April Brussels Belgium Cirque Royal
11 April Amsterdam Netherlands Royal Theater Carré
12 April Rotterdam Rotterdamse Schouwburg
14 April Paris France Le Trianon
17 April Madrid Spain La Riviera
18 April Barcelona Razzmatazz
20 April Milan Italy Fabrique
23 April London England Eventim Apollo
25 April Dublin Ireland Olympia Theatre

References

  1. ↑ "Birdy Releases Stunning New Single 'Surrender'". BroadwayWorld. 22 January 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Brennan, Kate M. (29 April 2021). "Birdy's Back - And She's Found Her Wings". Clash. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  3. ↑ Lowe, Nick (27 November 2020). "Birdy: "I think I really needed a break after the last album"". Notion. Retrieved 23 January 2020.
  4. ↑ Plante, Chandler (9 November 2020). "Birdy Brings Emotion and Clarity with New EP, Piano Sketches". LadyGunn. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 Edmonds, Lizzie (15 April 2021). "Birdy: 'It took me years to write my latest heartbreak album due to writer's block'". Evening Standard. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  6. ↑ Green, Alex (21 April 2021). "Birdy: I Got Tired of It Feeling Like a Performance". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  7. 1 2 Mamona, Sheilla (15 April 2021). "Remember Skinny Love's Birdy? We caught up with her to talk about the reason behind her 5 year hiatus and her big comeback". Glamour. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  8. ↑ O'Toole, Jason (5 March 2021). "Birdy to take flight with soul-searching new album at the ready". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  9. 1 2 Harper, Bethan (19 March 2021). "Interview: Birdy Talks New Music, Her Early Rise to Success, and Her 'Young Heart'". Atwood Magazine. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  10. ↑ Chavez, Lizet (22 January 2021). "Birdy Releases First Single from Forthcoming Album 'Young Heart'". Vancancy. Retrieved 23 January 2021.
  11. ↑ Green, Alex; Harding, Laura (15 April 2021). "Singer Birdy reveals she rescued abandoned duckling during lockdown". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  12. ↑ "Birdy reveals new track, 'Deepest Lonely'". Times-Standard. 8 April 2021. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ↑ Soloman, Kate (16 April 2021). "Birdy, Wilton's Music Hall, review: a masterful show, full of beautiful noise". iNews. Retrieved 17 April 2021.
  14. ↑ Birdy [@birdy] (24 April 2021). "less than a week to young heart and I'm so excited to announce my album release-day party on @youtubemusic …" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  15. 1 2 "Young Heart Exclusive Recycled Vinyl". shop.officialbirdy.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  16. 1 2 "Young Heart by Birdy Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  17. ↑ Yeung, Neil Z. (7 May 2021). "Young Heart – Birdy". AllMusic. Retrieved 14 May 2021.
  18. 1 2 Murphy, Lauren (30 April 2021). "Birdy: Young Heart – London singer leaves her heart in Laurel Canyon". The Irish Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  19. 1 2 Cromb, Dan (27 April 2021). "Birdy's maturity shines through on her fourth outing Young Hear". The Line of Best Fit. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  20. 1 2 Daly, Rhian (28 April 2021). "Birdy – 'Young Heart' review: a beautiful, poetic journey through heartbreak". NME. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  21. 1 2 Hodgkinson, Will; Potton, Ed (29 April 2021). "The best new music to listen to this week". The Times. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  22. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Birdy – Young Heart" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  23. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Birdy – Young Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  24. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Birdy – Young Heart" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  25. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Birdy – Young Heart" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  26. ↑ "Top Albums (Week 18, 2021)". SNEP. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  27. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Birdy – Young Heart" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  28. ↑ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2021. 20. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  29. ↑ "Irish Albums Chart: 7 May 2021". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  30. ↑ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 May 2021.
  31. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Birdy – Young Heart". Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2021.
  32. ↑ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 7 May 2021.
  33. ↑ "Birdy Young Heart Signed CD". shop.officialbirdy.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  34. ↑ "Young Heart CD, Cassette, Notebook & Pencil Bundle". shop.officialbirdy.com. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
  35. ↑ "Young Heart by Birdy on Apple Music". Apple Music. Archived from the original on 2 May 2021. Retrieved 2 May 2021.
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