Jade Bird's talent for crafting punchy, organic-sounding folk-rock was apparent from her earliest singles and, following the success of 2018's rough-edged "Lottery," she proved she could deliver a full album's worth of similarly high-quality material. Often pigeonholed into the indeterminate catch-all known as Americana, the British singer/songwriter has always felt like more of a rock singer than anything else. While there is little discernible U.K. influence in her music, she eschews the more apparent "country songbird" elements in favor of gutsy rock dynamics and the sort of forthright lyrical approach that translates in any culture. On
Different Kinds of Light, her sophomore LP,
Bird more or less picks up the baton of her debut, playing to her strengths with a relaxed ease that lifts up the album's personal, lovelorn themes. Largely recorded in Nashville by producer
Dave Cobb (
Sturgill Simpson,
Dawes),
Different Kinds of Light ripples with live-band energy and loose performances that bring out the best in
Bird's songwriting. Hooky alt-pop standouts like "Honeymoon" and "Now Is the Time" benefit from strong melody lines and the kind of soaring vocal dynamics that immediately draw the listener in. The grungy "1994" is another highlight that plays against her folky typecasting. For his part,
Cobb complements the variety of styles appropriately, cranking up the noise and proving that he too is more than just an Americana super-producer (among his lesser-touted credits are albums for Canadian alt-rockers
Finger Eleven and Swedish metal heroes
Europe). Though still only in her early twenties,
Bird is now a half-decade into her career and revealing some of the maturity that comes with accumulated experience. Not only has she written an engaging set of songs, but they are played and captured with gusto. ~ Timothy Monger