‘Home’ by Wallis Bird is Eastside Radio’s Album of the Week. The Irish artist returned on 30th September with a brand new record, her fifth album. This album is a celebration of the love Bird now enjoys with her girlfriend and muse, and refers to the album as a thank you letter. A delightful soul album.

Introduced to music at six months old when her father bought her first guitar, she soon lived a tragedy that could have ended her life with music forever. In deed, born left-handed, she lost five fingers of her left hand in a lawnmower accident, and having four sewn back on again. But stubborn and born to do music, she became used to playing a right-handed guitar upside-down, which contributes to her unconventional style of playing. After meting her fellow band member Aoife O’Sullivan while studying songwriting at Ballyfermot Rock School, she started to play in small clubs or pubs alongside major festivals. Moving through Europe, she won renown to become the artist we know today, with her five albums and being considered as one of Ireland’s finest artist.

The entire album has been recorded in her home in Germany. While some musicians go to Berlin, embrace the darkness, and develop a debilitating smack habit, Bird has had a very different experience: she’s come out of the closet and apparently found true love and happiness in the arms of a good woman. Home is all about love. Take the full-blooded ‘ODOM’ about falling insanely in love, in which she announces “You’re hotter than a hot thing on a hot day” capturing the adrenalised, wild rush of infatuation. The cosy title-track ‘Home’ is sung a cappella, where Bird promises “I’m not good for you right now, I’m good for you forever”. No one, however, could accuse Bird of having a one-track mind. Home also offers gratitude to the flat-mates she left behind on ‘That Leads the Way’. Then comes the passionate and frenzied ‘Control’, and the playful funk of ‘Fantasy’. Suitably, Home was recorded largely in Bird’s home studio, with Bird occupying the producer’s chair and playing most of the instruments After touring through all Europe and Japan, Bird is finally coming for the very first time in Australia, playing at the Newtown Social Club on 12th January.

Track Listing:

1. Change

2. ODOM

3. Control

4. Pass the Darkness

5. That Leads the Way

6. Home

7. Love

8. The Deep Reveal

9. Fantasy

10. I Want It, I Need It

11. Seasons

You can follow Wallis Bird’s news at wallisbird.com or via thier FACEBOOK page. For an extended listen to the album, tune in on Thursday from 1.30PM – 2PM for ‘Album of the Week’ with Paul Goupille. Don’t forget to also listen out for your opportunity to win a copy of ‘Home’ all week. You must be a supporter to win so make sure to sign up at https://eastsidefm.org/support-us-2/. You can also stream the station at WWW.EASTSIDEFM.ORG