“We owe it to ourselves to live a full life, no matter what hits us”
‘Meteorites’ is the first single to be taken from Dorothy Bird’s upcoming second album. It’s an ethereal music box of a track that slowly unfolds from soft piano playing and perfectly showcases Bird’s exceptional voice. Layers of instrumentation and atmospheric sounds drift in as the song expands from a pinpoint of light to a constellation of stars. The song is an introspective response to a time of upheaval and change when you can be assailed by a barrage of different thoughts and feelings. Bird says,
“As we live our lives, sometimes we’re hit by meteorites… memories that seem to come from nowhere. What seems to be important now might vaporise over time, while other long-forgotten memories or feelings might suddenly strike us. No logic or planning can prevent this… the memories come regardless of what we’re doing at that moment.”
This is an adult lullaby. Whereas children need soothing before going to sleep – checking to make sure the monsters are not under the bed – as adults we know the monsters are real and music is our response to life, especially times of difficulty and sadness. ‘Meteorites’ is reflective, not maudlin, and the arrangement featuring soft electronic drums and Jon Lawton’s understated and beautifully delicate guitar playing, is the perfect vessel to hold Bird’s vocals.
Dorothy Bird sits in a tiny subset of singers who are gifted with exceptional voices. This quirk of biology gives someone vocal cords the rest of us can only dream of – Jim Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Placido Domingo, or Chuck D – but the true talent; what sets these people apart, is how they can control their gift. Breathing, cadence, diction, and power are what they bring to their gift, learned and perfected over time. Bird can breathe out a line like a whisper, annunciate the last letter of a line or soar to dizzying heights while never losing the emotional truth of a song.
Dorothy Bird socials: Facebook | X | Instagram | YouTube
Meteorites
Since my childhood
I’m filling my time capsule of glass
Telling whispering paper
Things that I love
Oh, and precious moments
Surrounded by photos, stones and sand
I keep them safe
For times to come
But memories collide
They are meteorites
In the orbits around us flies our past in lines
And I’m hit again out of thin air straight into my mind
Flashing lights freeze moments
That pierce into my heart
‘Cause you sneak in
Making my journey your own path
Another sleepless night
If only I had known
I’d be skipping time
On stepping stones
‘Cause memories collide
They are meteorites
Filtered through the atmosphere some are vaporized
Only time knows which ones will strike into my mind
I feel the echo of your smile
Can you see me too
I feel the echo of your light
Can you see me too
But memories collide
They are meteorites
In the orbits around us flies our past in lines
And I’m hit again out of thin air straight into my mind
straight into my mind
straight into my mind
straight into my mind
Review by Paul F Cook
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