Jealous Of The Birds
Delivering stripped-back, introspective indie rock with bright melancholy and garnering comparisons to arresting songwriters such as Cat Power, Karen Dalton, and Laura Marling, Jealous of the Birds is the solo project of Irish singer/songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Naomi Hamilton. Her music is tuneful with a folkie bent, and she's capable of languid acoustic-based sounds as well as more full-bodied electric music, all in the service of her literate, introspective lyrics. She debuted her atmospheric, poetic sound -- one rooted in the hazy, dreamy alternative rock of the early 1990s -- with 2016's Parma Violets, then sharpened her style on 2020's Peninsula. She struck a stylistic midpoint between them with the mature, introspective confidence of 2023's Hinterland.
Hailing from the town of Portadown in the County Armagh in Northern Ireland, Hamilton made her appearance on the local scene alongside fellow alternative indie rock and folk artists such as No Oil Paintings and Ciaran Lavery. It wasn't long before her sound and style began to resonate with gig-goers and alternative music fans in the area. Her lo-fi, lush, and atmospheric sound began to attract attention after she put out her debut EP, Capricorn, in March 2015. The release received widespread critical acclaim, and Hamilton eventually found herself performing on BBC Radio Ulster's Across the Line show, with BBC Radio One's Huw Stephens also praising her skill and airing some of her material. The EP alone earned Hamilton a burgeoning fan base, with many critics and fans comparing her to the likes of Girlpool, the Moldy Peaches, and Karen Dalton.
She then went on to write and record her debut full-length. Parma Violets saw release in May 2016 on Big Space Records. The effort incorporated a wider and broader sound palette that had evolved since Capricorn; many of the songs had gone from stripped-down, minimal, and bare acoustic numbers to more layered and lavish indie rock anthems. In order to promote the effort, Hamilton assembled a live band to tour the record, along with her previous material, and also broke stateside with shows at SXSW in Austin and numerous appearances along the West Coast. All of that exposure eventually caught the attention of Canvasback Music/Atlantic Records, which signed Hamilton in early 2017. Her first release for the label, The Moths of What I Want Will Eat Me in My Sleep EP, arrived in July 2018 followed by a second EP, Wisdom Teeth, in early 2019. A second full-length album, Peninsula, appeared in September 2020.
Unable to tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Hamilton kept herself occupied during lockdown by writing poetry and exploring her interest in photography. She was able to merge these interests by publishing a chapbook, Heat of the Sun, that featured 40 of her original poems and a sampling of her nature photos. Drawing influence from the work of seminal American poet Walt Whitman, Hamilton returned to the studio with a fresh batch of songs, joined by producer and engineer Declan Legge as well as guitarist Ciaran Coyle, keyboard player Matt Evans, bassist Peter Close, and drummer Jamie Hewitt. A pair of new tracks were released in April 2023, "Morse Code" and "Beginner's Luck." They were previews of the third Jealous of the Birds album, Hinterland, which was issued in May 2023.
© Rob Wacey & Mark Deming /TiVo
Discography
17 album(s) • Sorted by Bestseller
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Parma Violets
Alternative & Indie - Released by Canvasback on 9 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Hinterland
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 19 May 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Peninsula
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 18 Sep 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Wisdom Teeth
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 1 Feb 2019
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
The Moths Of What I Want Will Eat Me In My Sleep
Alternative & Indie - Released by Canvasback on 13 Jul 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Something Holy
Alternative & Indie - Released by Canvasback - ATL on 21 Aug 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Love Is a Crow
Jealous Of The Birds, Ryan Vail
Alternative & Indie - Released by Quiet Arch on 24 Feb 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Grass Begins To Eat Itself
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 20 Sep 2019
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
Belfast Song
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 4 Nov 2021
24-Bit 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Morse Code
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 23 Mar 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Wisdom Teeth
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 1 Feb 2019
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Mrs Dalloway
Alternative & Indie - Released by Canvasback on 9 Mar 2018
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Ode To Fire
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 20 Mar 2020
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Young Neanderthal
Alternative & Indie - Released by Canvasback - ATL on 10 Jul 2020
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Love Is a Crow
Jealous Of The Birds, Ryan Vail
Alternative & Indie - Released by Quiet Arch on 25 Jan 2017
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Beginner's Luck
Alternative & Indie - Released by Atlantic Records on 19 Apr 2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo