Album review: Birdy, Fire Within (14th Floor/Atlantic)

 

Simmy Richman
Friday 20 September 2013 13:07 BST
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If we know anything about the artist trading as Birdy so far it is likely to be as follows: posh, young (17), had a hit with a Bon Iver song even though her friends are more likely to be listening to 1D. Which is fine, dismiss her thus if you wish.

But Fire Within is Birdy's "she’s not a little girl any more" album. How do we know this? We know this because Birdy has written or co-written all of the songs, because there's a sombre black-and-white photo on the cover and because all the accompanying bumph tells us so in precisely those words.

And guess what? It's rather good, in a superior X Factor winner way: bold choruses and a voice big enough to rise above the lavish production. Not one for Bon Iver fans, but the kid's got something.

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