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 7 Relentless Boardmasters Festival, Newquay
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
Wallis Bird is back. The 26-year-old Irish singer-songwriter has made her second album ‘New Boots’, set for release on Dublin-based independent Rubyworks (home of Rodrigo y Gabriela), and the follow-up to 2007’s ‘Spoons’ (on Island). 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 and her partner – experiences that, she says, nearly broke her in half.
Encompassing the gamut of emotions, from ecstasy to despair, the cathartic nature of the album is even reflected in the locations it was recorded in: a rural Germany studio close to where she lived for 18 months, her London home and her parents’ house back in Ireland. She even used her family as backing vocalists on some songs. “Having family and friends take part makes it more personal, both for me and for the listener,” Wallis says. “I feel that music can die if we don’t keep it intimate”.
Wallis has dug deep, fought hard and alchemised pop gold, creating an honest, bold and predictably unpredictable album. There’s no holding down the girl who had her five fingers on her left hand sheared off in an accident when she was a child, but was back playing the guitar within six months.
An impassioned performer, ‘New Boots’ captures much of the live energy of Wallis’ shows in a way which was perhaps not as evident on ‘Spoons’. Listeners of the first album might be surprised by the 5ft 2in bundle of white heat who throws herself around the stage with wilful abandon, breaking strings, 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 with often breathtaking results. Having impressed everyone with the intensity and passion of her live performances, Wallis has nurtured a gig-going following whose admiration borders on the devotional.
Here, on ‘New Boots’, Wallis is shouting, roaring and belting out a set of blistering, heartlifting songs. As she sings on the brimful-of-joy, stadium-sized acoustica of ‘To My Bones’, “we’re kissing the lips of strangers, we’re hugging whoever next we meet, oh life I love you to my bones”.
“These songs were a conscious step away from ‘Spoons’,” says Bird. “My songs were sometimes musically chaotic and I wanted to hone my craft, making my songs more concise and accessible. I was also asking myself could I do something with integrity that was still suitable for radio?”
The answer is a resounding yes. ‘New Boots’ is an album of passion, born of finally throwing off the chains of creative limbo and the frustrations of a turbulent period in her life. “It’s a reflection of my own learning curve over the past two years – learning the hard way about myself, about love, anger, sex, death and relationships. In the words of To My Bones, ‘all of these things have made me’.”
For Wallis, it’s got to be honest. Never to be ignored, and now with scars to prove it, Wallis returns with the vivid and multi-coloured ‘New Boots’ – and she’s kicking down your door with 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 7 Relentless Boardmasters Festival, Newquay
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
Wallis Bird
Biography 2009
“Your first album – you have your whole life to do your first album. Some of the songs on ‘Spoons’ were written when I was 12. I think the new album is not what anyone was expecting from me. I hope it does shock people. It’s the entire spectrum of emotions on one body of work, because that’s what I’ve been through in the last two years. It’s not a record that you’d do your dishes to. I’ve lost friends over this album.” - Wallis Bird, Germany, April 2009 Wallis Bird is back. The 26-year-old Irish singer-songwriter has made her second album ‘New Boots’, set for release on Dublin-based independent Rubyworks (home of Rodrigo y Gabriela), and the follow-up to 2007’s ‘Spoons’ (on Island). 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 and her partner – experiences that, she says, nearly broke her in half.
Encompassing the gamut of emotions, from ecstasy to despair, the cathartic nature of the album is even reflected in the locations it was recorded in: a rural Germany studio close to where she lived for 18 months, her London home and her parents’ house back in Ireland. She even used her family as backing vocalists on some songs. “Having family and friends take part makes it more personal, both for me and for the listener,” Wallis says. “I feel that music can die if we don’t keep it intimate”.
Wallis has dug deep, fought hard and alchemised pop gold, creating an honest, bold and predictably unpredictable album. There’s no holding down the girl who had her five fingers on her left hand sheared off in an accident when she was a child, but was back playing the guitar within six months.
An impassioned performer, ‘New Boots’ captures much of the live energy of Wallis’ shows in a way which was perhaps not as evident on ‘Spoons’. Listeners of the first album might be surprised by the 5ft 2in bundle of white heat who throws herself around the stage with wilful abandon, breaking strings, 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 with often breathtaking results. Having impressed everyone with the intensity and passion of her live performances, Wallis has nurtured a gig-going following whose admiration borders on the devotional.
Here, on ‘New Boots’, Wallis is shouting, roaring and belting out a set of blistering, heartlifting songs. As she sings on the brimful-of-joy, stadium-sized acoustica of ‘To My Bones’, “we’re kissing the lips of strangers, we’re hugging whoever next we meet, oh life I love you to my bones”.
“These songs were a conscious step away from ‘Spoons’,” says Bird. “My songs were sometimes musically chaotic and I wanted to hone my craft, making my songs more concise and accessible. I was also asking myself could I do something with integrity that was still suitable for radio?”
The answer is a resounding yes. ‘New Boots’ is an album of passion, born of finally throwing off the chains of creative limbo and the frustrations of a turbulent period in her life. “It’s a reflection of my own learning curve over the past two years – learning the hard way about myself, about love, anger, sex, death and relationships. In the words of To My Bones, ‘all of these things have made me’.”
For Wallis, it’s got to be honest. Never to be ignored, and now with scars to prove it, Wallis returns with the vivid and multi-coloured ‘New Boots’ – and she’s kicking down your door with it.
