God bless the English eccentric as they have none of this damnable conformity to the expected level of lip glossed mediocrity so beloved of the modern day musician. Accordingly, Birdeatsbaby – and eccentric they most certainly are -make a welcome change by drawing more from musical theatre than the mainstream for this five song mini melodrama.
Is there a concept behind it? There might well be but, as the knives have clearly been sharpened, I’ll not ask what it is although I could hazard a guess. Starting, as it does, with the decaying decadence of “The Devil So Charming” that turns itself into a sonic giant before the Amanda Palmer-esque “The Replacement” sweeps you off your feet. Not content with making more impact in two songs than most bands could do in an album, the big guns get brought to bear on “Enemies Like Me” – a song that chases you up the road like some psychotic art-punk ex-girlfriend whose medication level urgently needs reviewed. It’s a song that I bet Kate Bush wished she had written (and if she had anger management issues that she had to address, of course).
Not to forget the other two songs, “Gone” is breathless, tempo shifting piece of overwrought cabaret that should really be promoted to hymn status given its operatic finish while “Rosary” sounds distinctly conventional beside the other songs even if it does burn with the intensity of an Audi that has been petrol bombed by a spurned lover.
I reckon the Devil would pay a good price for the collective soul of Birdeatsbaby. If he hasn’t already, that is.