Rising London-based shoegazers deary — Rebecca “Dottie” Cockram (guitar, vocals), Ben Easton (guitar) and Harry Catchpole (drums) — formed back in 2020 over their shared love of Cocteau Twins, Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine.
The band’s debut single, 2023’s “Fairground” landed at #1 on the UK Vinyl Singles Chart and led to opening slots with Slowdive and Cranes, as well as collaborations with Saint Etienne, The Murder Capital and Lush‘s Emma Anderson. Building upon a growing profile in the UK, the London-based trio’s highly-anticipated, self-produced full-length debut, Birding was officially released today through Bella Union.
Birding sees the band proudly wearing their long-held influences on their collective sleeve, pairing dreamy shoegaze beauty with trip-hop influenced beats, incorporating their unique, modern touch to make something completely their own.
Thematically, the album aims to draw attention to the direct impact that we humans have on the world around us, whether that’s nature or just ourselves. The album also touches upon the importance of protecting the inner child or someone more vulnerable, holding hands and learning from past mistakes. “I was writing the record in one of the worst periods of my life,” deary’s Ben Easton explains. “I was not in a good space at all. Our last EP, Aurelia, was about transition, and how it’s cool to change. And Birding is, ‘Oh no, I‘ve made some really disruptive life decisions.’ The album came from an isolated, almost hopeless space, and you can hear that in parts of the record. But there are also moments that are very self-loving and meditative, and a bit more uplifting.”
Birding will include the previously released, critically applauded tracks “Seabird” “Alfie,” “Alma” and its final single, album opening track “Smile.” As the album opener, “Smile” is a sweeping and hauntingly showcase of their evolved sound and approach. Anchored around a brooding, shimmering Cocteau Twins-like soundscape with buzzing guitars and wind chimes, “Alma” features Dottie Cockram’s ethereal delivery singing lyrics detailing a national epidemic of violence against women. It’s an urgent song tackling heavy and deeply intense subject matter.
“I’ve always been someone that listens to lyrics first,” Cockram says. “I knew we wanted to do something a bit different with this album compared to the first few EPs. Before, I would do long, drawn out vocals, decorated with long delays and things. But with ‘Smile.’ there are so many words in tight succession, I was just really happy with myself that I could fit it all in and show this new side of us.” The song’s lyrics found Cockram digging deeper into her own emotions. “I felt so much anger, fear and disappointment,” she says. “It felt that, for years, not a day had gone by where I didn’t see a news article about a woman or young girl being abused or have a friend tell me her story. I don’t know what the answer is and it’s difficult to capture all these feelings into one song, I just know it can’t stay as it is now.”’
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