Wallis Bird - releases new single ‘To My Bones’ on August 31, 2009. It is taken from her forthcoming second album ‘New Boots’, out September 7 through Rubyworks.
Hot on the heels of recent comeback single, the intoxicating ‘La La Land’, Wallis Bird readies the release of her new album with a big pop song that arguably helps to define it.
The songs on ‘New Boots’ emerged partly from the most euphoric moments of her life – epiphanies and personal triumphs – and partly from the shadow of splits – with her label, with her partner – experiences that, she says, nearly broke her in half.
Recorded in varying locations – a rural Germany studio close to where she lived for 18 months; her home in London; her parents’ house back in Ireland – Wallis even utilised her family as backing vocalists on some of the songs. “Having family and friends take part makes it more personal, both for me and for the listener,” she says. “I feel that music can die if we don’t keep it intimate.”
Together with her band, Wallis has dug deep, fought hard and alchemised pop gold, creating an honest, bold and predictably unpredictable album. None more so than on the stadium-sized acoustica of summer popsicle ‘To My Bones’, a song that has already pricked up the tuned-in ears of our mainstream radio airwaves.
An impassioned performer often likened to Janis Joplin and Ani DiFranco, much of the live energy of Wallis’ shows is captured on ‘New Boots’. Listeners might be surprised by the 5ft 2in bundle of white heat who throws herself around the stage with wilful abandon, breaking strings and shredding her fingers from the sheer force of her playing, urging the crowd into a collective sing-a-long and throwing her entire soul into each performance.
‘New Boots’ is a fiercely honest record from a young Irish songstress not afraid to channel heart and soul into her every last note. ‘To My Bones’ is its rallying cry.
Wallis Bird Live:
August 22 V Festival, Chelmsford
August 23 V Festival, Stafford
August 30 Solfest, West Cumbria
September 2 Koko, London (supporting Rodrigo y Gabriela)
September 12 Jimmy’s Farm Festival, Ipswich