Two years since her debut release and 4 years since the concept of Becky and the Birds was created, Thea Gustafsson launches into a new phase of her career with her new tracks.

Tired of a male dominated industry, she took the bull by the horns and created her own image and style that blew her into the limelight with an impressive debut. Now she has a good following, the next phase of her career could see the Swedish artist really tear up some new ground. 

Mystery will greet you at the very start of ‘Do You Miss Me’, with some quirky tuning and modulation on both synth and vocal and I suspect you won’t have heard a start quite like this. The phrasing and speed of lyric are really interesting, with a very fast transition sitting over a very laid back guitar, joined occasionally by synths. After a minute and a half the whole EQ on the vocal changes and becomes much warmer, but the backing instrumentation stays the same. With no percussion, but with more vocals and rhythm in the instruments and melody, it is a nice idea not to have too much drum, which gives the feel of the song a whole new format of innocence. ‘Do you miss me’ is about exactly what you’d expect it to be, a song about an ex, probably one that has moved on, but still holds feelings, and you can hear the provocative question being asked in passing every time they meet. Towards the end of the song, there are humming vocals and they are quite beautiful and in contrast to the modulating vocals in the rest of the song. 

What I found with this track is that it’s hard to place into a genre and is clearly highly highly original. The use of effects in partnership with the dreamy instrumentation is very unusual and defines the image and sound that Becky and the Birds create. It certainly stands out in the crowd as being different and I think that will stand it in good stead in this week's releases. 

 R&B    Singer-songwriter 

Author: Phil Arnold

Phil Arnold is a musician, producer and music reviewer from Devon, in the South West of England. Whilst not writing music reviews, Phil also writes and records under the name of Ugbrooke.