One of the UK's hottest up-and-coming unclassified rock bands, Exploring Birdsong, just put out their debut album, and it's everything we hoped to hear and more. The Liverpool-based band has a progressive rock sound and a sleek yet still alternative style to their visuals.
This band is taking their music and the album's name to create a marketing campaign so creative that they could convince us that they have taken on a new career path!
This album takes on a life and a story of its own, with a transition into an alternate universe where the band members are realtors selling "Every House We Built," just like the title of their debut album. With their site redesigned to look like a realty firm and band photos to match, they've created a brand identity for the album that is all its own and is one of the best marketing moves that I have seen in a while.
I really loved this album. It feels very progressive in nature, yet has an '80s feel at the same time. I am a huge sucker of anything melodic, progressive, and '80s rock, so this hits so many spots for me that made me fall in love with this album and band at the first song. Failing to find a single skip on this album was surprising for me, as usually, even with my top bands, I have at least one skippable song per album.
Lynsey Ward's smooth vocals, the fun '80s vintage texture of the instrumentals, and the melodic way they come together craft a sound that feels very specific to Exploring Birdsong. The lyrics for each track in this album include a line or concept that involves houses, homes, or otherwise stick to the theme of such. It's a really cool way to go about writing an album and connecting each song by one joint concept. And it really is the icing on the cake to also have the campaign embody the same theme.
Speaking of which, I need to make a comment on the marketing for this album... because I love it! The campaign for "Every House We Built," as well as the band's socials, are set up to make them look like a realty firm. The campaign takes on the same theme as the lyrics and title of the album, tying it all together in a neat little housewarming ribbon. I am a huge nerd for well done marketing campaigns, and this really hits one of the niche marks that I wish were used a little more often!
The video for the single "Romanticise" from the album is weirdly atmospheric. Much of the scenes feature a woman and a man going back-and-forth between a silent car ride during the daytime and a heated conversation at night, depicted by lighting and clothing changes to show a lapse of time. There are sprinkled clips of the couple walking on the sidewalk or fighting in what seems to be a parking lot or alleyway, also at a different time as depicted with clothing changes. At some points, you see both the man and woman feel something is off—there's a glimpse of them laughing and dancing together, then moments with each by themselves in the car, or see their past selves walk by on the street as they stare in awe out the window at them. Once in a while, you see clips of just the man in the car driving erratically with his eyes closed and bright car lights. By the end of the video, you realize she has left him, and he's left in the aftermath of the relationship. Those clips are from his "now."
The way the video is shot is really well done. It leaves you to figure out what's going on, but doesn't make it too complicated to understand by the end. The scene changes are placed perfectly to the music. They did an amazing job cinematically and at portraying the emotions in the music to the themes of the video. I have to say this is probably my favorite song and video from this album.
If I had to pick favorites from this album, while it is difficult, I would probably have to go with "Romanticise," "Cartography," and "Every House We Built." I love the melodic values of "Archipelago" and "Cartography." The instrumentals in "Cartography," along with the lyrics, feel slightly haunting even though the songs are almost upbeat in tone. The track that is actually more haunting in vocals and lyrics is "Every House We Built" as it feels like Lynsey's a ghost haunting the halls of her own home as she sings. There's something so surreal how they bring that visual to life just through their sound. And I like "Romanticise" just for how fun the beat and lyrics are, and I particularly love the song's structure with the bridge part, where they go into a more post-hardcore vibe before transitioning back to the '80s feel and progressive rock sound.
I believe that Exploring Birdsong has a lot of potential for media sync with their music as well! The whole vibe of their sound makes it easy to picture their music in various types of scenes. Their music would excel in the drama, rom-com, atmospheric type films and series, and indie films! I would really love to see them land their music in films, series, and even in video games.
Photo Credit: Facebook
This band's sound alone is beautiful and could take them really far, but on top of that, they have great branding and a knack for marketing that is genius in my opinion! I was completely new to this band coming into this review and have become a huge fan over the process. Not just of this album, either, but their other releases as well. I can see them cementing themselves in the international big leagues of music.
I am excited for the future of Exploring Birdsong! They hit so many of my high notes in sound alone, but also as some one that works multiple areas of the music industry, they are an exciting band to follow as they are making some really experimental choices that I love and want to see more often in the industry. They have such a promising future, and I am all here to support them as they grow!
Tour Dates
September 23rd - Classic Grand in Glasglow,
September 24th - Islington Assembly Hall in London,
September 25th - Strange Brew in Bristol,
Photos: Luke Tatlock / Facebook
Meet the Band!
Lynsey Ward – Lead vocals and piano
Jonny Knight – Bass guitar and synths
Matt Harrison – Drums and percussion
