Excellent Birds is the alias of Bristol-based artist Annie Gardiner, a name taken from a Peter Gabriel and Laurie Anderson song lyric, “flying birds, excellent birds”. I first heard Annie’s dazzling voice on alt-jazz Run Logan Run’s album Nature Will Take Care Of You which led me to her exceptional 2021 album Bloodletting which has its roots in the darker end of the folk spectrum and showed her voice off to its fully haunting potential. So, when the email came in announcing the Excellent Birds’ album Jungian Stomp (songs from the PSR-90) I imagined another journey into folk’s deep forest, but far from it, this is more neon nightclub than ancient woodland and Annie Gardiner has moved into similar musical landscapes to Björk, Albertine Sarges and Róisín Murphy.
The album was inspired by Yamaha’s PSR-90 synthesizer (hence its inclusion in the title) and the self-imposed constraint of using the “distinctive speed control…’mellow’ articulation and preset beats” to generate most of the sounds has proved a great catalyst in guiding the writing of the tracks which were further enhanced in Logic software. The opening track ‘Sylvia’s Mirror’ also features Bristol drummers Guy Metcalfe, Tom Gardiner, James Hester, Dan Johnson, Mark Whitlam, Hugo Bishop and Andy Sutor playing to a click track while being recorded on Gardiner’s iPhone 5C.
Annie Gardiner’s voice works so well on these club-like tracks; from the Björk-like ululations on ‘Future Ghosts’ and the hypnotic floatation tank singing on ‘I find it hard to speak the words i really mean in the time given’. ‘Why Did I Wait’ has the power of Hounds of Love-era Kate Bush and, along with standout track ‘Young Romance’, they bring a tape-warp 80/90’s vibe to the mix. They shimmer with bright colours and a youthful optimism that is one time machine away from coming out of Georgio Moroder’s studio and being included on the soundtrack to a John Hughes film.
Most of the tracks on Jungian Stomp… deserve to be on heavy rotation across the major radio stations and the whole album feels warmly familiar from the first listen, like a cherished record that had been in my collection for years. Annie Gardiner is a truly special artist whose voice alone could stop you in your tracks but her ability to move between genres, and excel in them all, is very rare indeed. If the principle of Jungian therapy is to “bring together the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind to help a person feel balanced and whole” then repeated sessions with this album should improve your mental health.
Excellent Birds/Annie Gardiner socials: Facebook | Bandcamp | Instagram
The current single from the album is ‘Why Did I Wait’ a woozy dream of a track that you can – if you’re quick – get a limited piece of unique artwork as well as the download which also contains a remix of ‘Sylvia’s Mirror’. Released through Gardiner’s own Crystal Fuzz Records.
Review by Paul F Cook
Keep up to date with all new content on Joyzine via our
Facebook / X / Instagram / Mailing List
3 comments