Something is brewing in the south eastern hemisphere. I’ve noticed an uptick in talent making headlines from Australia. Time to add another name to that list. Bec Taylor and The Lyrebirds hail from Canberra, Australia. Their sound is a blend of country / alt / indie / folk. Bec Taylor is no stranger to the big stage. With her previous projects Fun Machine and Glitoris, she’s played alongside the country’s biggest artists. In 2020 she started the Lyrebirds. Adrift was the band’s debut album. Their sophomore LP, Limbs & All has arrived.
First things first. Bec’s voice is special. Anything she sings on will automatically be amazing. They capture some magic on the single “Photograph”. The song’s rhythm immediately draws us in. Her voice soothes like aloe on a cut. The vocal melody selections and their deployment is exemplary. I think it’s a slide guitar which brings a surreal dreaminess around the mid-way point. Whatever it is, I love it.
Upon the first two notes I heard emanate from the speakers, I knew the song was legit. That song is “Glassgow”. Those keys radiate a fun innocence we only know in our youth. How the guitars hug the drums rhythm makes me smile. Bringing in a male vocal was a great call. His voice is a little coarse, bringing some welcomed scruff to the otherwise smooth production.
The last song I had circled is appropriately the last track on the record. “Goner” feels like a closer. They push the tempo. The song also is played in a straightforward manner. That slide guitar I was fawning over earlier is back. Bec’s impresses on the pre chorus, flexing her vocal range. This single is loaded with emotions. That emotional overload stares us in the face in the song’s outro. The notes hang, stirring anxiety, pain, regret, fear, like a “goodbye forever” moment. I couldn’t think of a better way to end the album.
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