Home LP by Birds via Feed The Void

When Rotterdam based, UK born DJ/producer Birds (real name Katie Wilkinson) began putting together the tracks for her debut album, she realised that there was an ongoing theme to the vocal lines; they all were related to either being at, leaving or returning to some form of ‘home’, most likely because she made the move from The UK to The Netherlands less than 6 months before and was still going through the traumatising visa process. This led her to think about the philosophical question of what exactly is home. The album explores these themes.

“Home can be so many things….it can be a permanent, it can be temporary, it can be the feeling of surrendering to bad habits, it can be that familiar spot on a dance floor, your favourite seat in a bar, the people you surround yourself with, feeling a sense of freedom, your family base…the possibilities are endless. It’s a word that cannot really be defined.”

Birds

a squelchy swung acid line

Genre wise, the album is a deep dive into Birds’ Bass, Breaks and Electro inspired influences with the occasional signature fuzzy guitar hook reminiscent of her earlier dark-wave material peppered in.

The album begins with an off grid drone track ‘Prelude’ featuring vocal clips of various people trying to describe in just a few words what ‘home’ means to them. The title track is up next and it’s the most Bass music inspired number of the whole record, founded on a trap beat and a squelchy swung acid line.

‘HWFG’ is a percussive ambient number depicting a transcendental journey into the unknown. ‘Charlois’ is an ominous hard hitting chugger describing a treacherous cycle. ‘Take Control’ is an Electro hitter that wouldn’t feel out of place on a Radioactive Man record featuring a simple (but effective) 3 note Moog bass line.

Dark, Twisted and Dancable

‘Devil’s Dance’ is dark and twisted wave inspired but still rather bass laden journey exploring desire and temptation. ’The Mansions of Saigon’ is an intense acid track about a party taking an incredibly wonky path. ‘Freedom Is A State Of Mind’ is a massive swampy breakbeat track reminiscent of The Hacker, Djedjotronic or L.F.T., still having a similarly dark edge to it.

‘Final Destiny’ clocks in at 158 BPM, making it the fastest song on the record; it’s a track based on Amen Breaks/Drum n Bass but those distinctive dark textures remain in tact. ’There’s No Place Like Home’ is a heavy, sample filled track with multiple sections to it that make it feel like a real journey, including a half tempo breakdown.

‘True Peace Found Her In The End’ is IDM inspired and features ambient percussion samples and a resonant bass line, comparable to the softer side of Aphex Twin’s discography and brings the album to a close. The whole record is a journey in itself, traversing bass driven genres across the way.

‘Home’ will be released on Feed The Void on 26th July 2024.
Pre-order your LP here!

Credits:

All tracks written and produced by Katie Wilkinson.
Mastering by Sam Berdah.
Artwork by Johana Pejic.
Photo by Leroy Verbeet.
Voice notes in ‘Prelude’ by: Iain Mac, Lauren Crawford, Pedro Braga, Anastasia Zems, Ramon Klomp, Ian Bode and Dina Brudi-Pascal.

Single Release Dates: