Birdy - Beautiful Lies review: confident follow-up from a smart musician

Not so featherweight as she used to be (her 2011 debut album comprised mostly cover versions of songs by Bon Iver, The National and The xx), Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth Jennifer van den Bogaerde has developed into a very useful songwriter.

While her 2013 follow-up featured co-writes with Sia, Ryan Tedder, and Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett, Beautiful Lies has Birdy through it like words imprinted through a stick of rock.

Notwithstanding leaf or two taken from the Lorde handbook, Birdy delivers a special brand of off-centre pop music that directly reference her transition from teenager to adult (she is 20 in May).

Songs with telltale names such as Growing Pains, Keeping your Head Up, Deep End, Lost it All and the title track also indicate a smart artist getting to grips with the differences between inexperience and hard knocks.

[ officialbirdy.com ]