There’s a comfort to be found to be found in the conventional and it is a comfort that many will appreciate as they listen to Jennifer Bird’s album “Transition”.
You have to admire her carefully measured approach to song writing as song after song brings forth the thought that someone big could be singing it soon – Celine Dion doing “Believe” or Taylor Swift doing “Conversations In My Head”, for example? It’s an odd feeling to listen to an album that sounds more like a collection of commercial song writing demos than a body of work but there is a saving grace however and it is Ms Bird’s voice. She can carry a tune, as you might expect, but she excels at selling the song she sings bringing bounce to the aforementioned “Conversations In My Head” and a sublime elegance to the hushed “Where You Are”. On reflection, it didn’t really take that much to forgive the lack of continuity.
The low budget production quickly lets the side down on the more complex songs but there is something about Ms Bird’s voice that just sort of charms you. Take a listen for yourself and you’ll hear what I mean.