I’m always wary when a band releases EPs and singles for years before the official debut. Sometimes those years of build-up make the debut a letdown. That is definitely not the case for Exploring Birdsong. Their debut Every House We Built hits all the right notes and continues their stride upwards. It released on June 26th.
Exploring Birdsong comes to us from the UK. Their lineup has been steady since their inception almost a decade ago. The band consists of Lynsey Ward (Espera, backing vocal trio for Sleep Token) on keyboards and vocals, Jonny Knight on bass, and Matt Harrison on drums. You’ll notice that they do not have a guitarist.
They play what I would call progressive pop. Certainly it has elements of rock and alternative, but the music is melody-forward, laden with pop hooks, and soaked in a gushing and gorgeous atmosphere. There is a certain Romanticism that lingers around their work, a certain fuzzy feeling that just makes you smile. Some songs on this album even have 80s-90s sitcom vibes, which for some reason sounds amazing. Yet, some of their songs rock incredibly hard, too.
I can’t overemphasize the importance of the performances here. Lynsey’s voice is quickly becoming legendary and she absolutely delivers on this record. Jonny and Matt provide a fiery, powerful rhythm section that offers up the proggier side of their sound, yet Lynsey’s keys play a huge role, too, in the flowing river of melody she provides. I love how purposeful and intentional every note is.
Every House We Built has twelve tracks and they are all great. I think I prefer the second half simply because both of my favorite tracks are there. In the first half, we get songs like the opener “Archipelago”, a truly vivid and colorful piece that takes its time building a wall of pure elegance. We get the singles “Romanticise” and “42” and “Spy in the House of Love”, all of which are rock solid. I think the latter is my favorite of the three. The only other song in the first half is “Arrythmia”, a hovering and nuanced track that feels warm, even as a gritty instrumental blasts it wide open.
The second half has fewer singles, so it felt newer. It starts with “I_You”, a lovely piece with charming lyrics; it often feels like an Aurora song to me, for some reason. “The Warning” comes next and is probably the “heaviest” track on the record; I absolutely adore the chorus and swelling emotions on this one. In this half, we also get “Cartography”, something of a ballad as it focuses on vocals and strings, and it feels incredibly heartfelt. The closer “Meadowlands” is a seven-minute joy with its surging melody and glowing presence. It’s one of those songs you never want to end, but I’m a big fan of the slow piano that closes the record.
I skipped two songs because they are my favorites, and I think they’re pretty astonishing. “You Like It Best When It Hurts” is my favorite of the singles, and, my God, I never tire of it. The gushing atmosphere, the addictive chorus, the crunchy instrumental: all of it makes for a song that is equal parts pop catchiness and progressive rock fire. Yet, the title track is also truly stunning. It’s more of slowburn, a dialogue from the heart. The whirling melody feels a bit like Sleep Token (which makes sense), but the song grows out of it, branches upwards, explodes with light at just the right moment. My only complaint? I want it to go on for several minutes more.
Exploring Birdsong is building a fanbase on the back of their melodic brilliance, and this debut album is proof that it was never a gimmick. Every House We Built is a rich, lively, character-driven beauty that never fails to thrill me just as it never fails to move me.
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Find Exploring Birdsong online:
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The PROG Mind 