Florist
The Birds Outside Sang
Reviewed by: Shruti Pal
The Birds Outside Sang is the equivalent of finding an old tape from a childhood summer and playing it on a VCR in your basement, all while cuddled up in your lover’s arms. Unsteady videography, bleached colors, accidental close-ups, smiles, tears, unsharpened images. Everything works in perfect harmony to release the feelings packed in the saturated memories. Brooklyn-based Florist’s debut full-length album is just this. It’s a statement. It isn’t a perfected, grand, technical masterpiece. Rather, it is unpolished. But that’s what makes it so genuine. It isn’t trying to be anything it isn’t. What it is, is a long confessional poem that captures the small things that we may miss in our modern videography techniques, and only your mom’s shaky camera work could capture.
The Birds Outside Sang doesn’t let its content conform to traditional verse/chorus structure, and rather allows the music to tell the story it wants to tell without any unnecessary flattery. Florist manages to pack its short, often two-minute songs with tempo changes and dynamic climaxes. You’re never bored.
The title track is a perfect example of the unrefined beauty of the album. In “Thank You”, singer Emily Sprague speaks over the bright – almost drone like but trembling – instrumentation, elegantly reciting a poem that paints a picture that has been shrunken to simplicity: “The rain is falling at the perfect speed/The cars are diving at the perfect speed/My legs are moving at the perfect speed”. The song milks the emotion out of condensed moments. Sprague’s voice plays a major role in this phenomenon. It has a spoken, story telling quality that makes you believe every word she’s saying.
“White Light Doorway” has a catchier, lyrical quality. It works well to attract a larger audience to this album, as it is more accessible, relatable and similar to what people may be used to hearing of this genre. “Rings Grow” has the infectious harmonies that make you feel like you are part of something greater than reality.
What stands out most about “Cold Lakes Quiet Dreams” is the bass guitar. It truly explores its dynamic ability. At some points of the song it seems as if it is crying to be heard even if it’s losing the beat. The instrumentation of this album in general deserves acclaim. From wind instruments, to synthy basses, to other odd effects – it is not trying to fit into any boxes. It compliments the intensely personal nature of the album, as opposed to being an album made to please.
In their previous releases we saw a typical folksy, alternative band. The Birds Outside Sang is far more genuine, daring, and evoking than we were expecting. As Emily Sprague says – “My one and only goal is that someone can listen to this album and feel/see something, and take it with them as a thought.” By this criterion, The Birds Outside Sang is a definite success.
Rating: Bad-Ass
