MONIO

‘Your first album – you have your whole life to do your first album. Some of the songs on ‘Spoons’ were written when I was 12. I think the new album is not what anyone was expecting from me. I hope it does shock people. It’s the entire spectrum of emotions on one body of work, because that’s what I’ve been through in the last two years. It’s not a record that you’d do your dishes to. I’ve lost friends over this album.’Wallis Bird, Germany, April 2009

Wallis Bird is back. The 26-year-old Irish singer and songwriter has made her second album ‘New Boots’, set for release on the Dublin-based independent label Rubyworks (home of Rodrigo y Gabriela), and the follow-up to 2007’s Spoons (released on Island). The songs on ‘New Boots’ emerged partly from the most euphoric moments of her life – epiphanies and personal triumphs – and partly from the shadow of splits – with her label, with her partner  - experiences that, she says, nearly broke her in half.

Encompassing the gamut of emotions, from ecstasy to despair and everything in between, the cathartic nature of the album is even reflected in the locations they were recorded: a studio in rural Germany close to where she lived for 18 months; her home in London; and her parents’ house back in Ireland. She even utilised her family as backing vocalists on some of the songs, explaining that “having family and friends take part makes it more personal, both for me and for the listener. I feel that music can die if we don’t keep it intimate”.

Together with her band, Wallis has dug deep, fought hard and alchemised pop gold, creating an honest, bold and predictably unpredictable album. There’s no holding down the girl who had her five fingers on her left hand sheared off in an accident when she was a child, but was back playing the guitar within six months.

An impassioned performer, ‘New Boots’ captures much of the live energy of Wallis’ shows in a way which was perhaps not as evident on ‘Spoons’. Listeners of the first album might be surprised by the 5ft 2 bundle of white heat who throws herself around the stage with wilful abandon, breaking strings, shredding her fingers from the sheer force of her playing, urging the crowd into a collective sing-a-long and throwing her entire soul into each performance with often breath-taking results. Having impressed everyone with the intensity and passion of her live performances, Wallis has nurtured a gig-going following whose admiration borders on the devotional.

Here, on ‘New Boots’, Wallis is shouting, roaring, carolling and belting out a set of blistering, heartlifting songs. As she sings on the brimful-of-joy, stadium-sized acoustica of ‘To My Bones’, “we’re kissing the lips of strangers, we’re hugging whoever next we meet, oh life I love you to my bones”.

“These songs were basically a conscious step away from ‘Spoons’, says Bird. ‘My songs were sometimes musically chaotic and I wanted to hone my craft, making my songs more concise and accessible. I was also asking myself: could I do something with integrity that was still suitable for radio?”

The answer is a resounding yes.  ‘New Boots’ is an album of passion, born of finally throwing off the chains of creative limbo and the frustrations of a turbulent period in her life. “It’s a reflection of my own learning curve over the past two years – learning the hard way about myself, about love, anger, sex, death and relationships. In the words of To My Bones, “all of these things have made me”.

For Wallis Bird, it’s got to be honest, and it’s got to be true. Never to be ignored, and now with the scars to prove it, Wallis returns with the vivid, multi-coloured and hugely entertaining ‘New Boots’ and she’s kicking down your door with it.

Wallis Bird is playing at MONIO & FRIENDS 2009 on Saturday 1st August