Birdy

Since bewitching the nation at the age of 14 with her cover of Bon Iver’s “Skinny Love,” Birdy has had to do a lot of growing up. While her contemporaries have lived leisurely, teenage lives - studying, shopping, socialising - this extraordinarily talented 19-year-old has released two albums, toured the world, performed at the Paralympics Opening Ceremony, been nominated for a Brit Award (for British Female Solo Artist), written songs for the hit movies The Fault in Our Stars and The Hunger Games, and sung on Mumford & Sons’ Grammy-winning song “Learn Me Right” (part of the soundtrack for the Pixar animation, Brave). A long list of international accolades include, Best International Female (Echo Awards, Germany 2013) and Best International Female (Principales, Spain 2014) and many more. She has accumulated over 413 million views on Youtube and sold over 10.5 millions records worldwide to date.

Five years into her career and now a young adult, Birdy has flown the nest and moved to London. This is a big change for this softly spoken girl who is happy to admit that she is naturally shy and not an obvious candidate for a life in the limelight.

Now she is set to release her third LP, the elegant and evocative Beautiful Lies, which is, she says, “about knowing yourself but also about change and how we sometimes find it hard. For me moving away from home feels strange and a bit scary, but then my life has been constantly moving. The last few years have gone by in a blur. There have been times when my friends have rung me and said ‘Where are you?’ and I’ve said, ‘I don’t actually know’.”

Birdy’s memories of adolescence are bittersweet. While she has adored performing, meeting other musicians and travelling the world, there have been times when she’s craved a more regular existence. “Not being able to join in with things has been difficult at times,” she explains. “As a teenager you want to go to parties, hang out with friends and know all the gossip. It can be weird coming home and finding you’re not up to date.” This struggle is reflected in the first single on Beautiful Lies, “Keeping Your Head Up”. It is, says Birdy, “about the fight within yourself, and how even when you’re at your saddest, you can think about the future and the good things that are to come. I’m essentially an optimist and I believe that things will be alright, but I do have that mournful side which still comes out in my music.”