![]() ![]() The song became her first hit on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at 17. In January 2011, at the age of 14, Birdy released a cover version of Bon Iver's song " Skinny Love". In 2009, Birdy performed live on piano for BBC Radio 3's Pianothon in London. She performed her own song, called "So Be Free", at the competition in front of 2,000 people. She won both the under-18s category and the Grand Prize, against 10,000 other competitors. In 2008, while still a 12-year-old pupil at Durlston Court Prep School, Birdy won the UK talent contest Open Mic UK, a spinoff of the Live and Unsigned competition. īirdy's stage name comes from the nickname her parents gave her as a baby, because she opened her mouth like a little bird when being fed. īirdy's second given name, Lucilla, was the name of her father's stepmother. She has English, Belgian (Flemish), Dutch and Scottish ancestry. Her great-uncle was the actor Sir Dirk Bogarde. Her maternal grandfather was Captain John Christopher Ingram Roper-Curzon, the 20th Baron Teynham, and she grew up on the family estate near Lymington, Hampshire. īirdy studied at Durlston Court Prep School in Barton on Sea, at Priestlands School, and at Brockenhurst College, a sixth form college in the New Forest. She also has two elder half-brothers, Moses and Sam, from her father's first marriage. ![]() Her parents were married in 1995 and have two other children: Jake, born in 1997, and Caitlin in 1999. She stated that listening to classical music and the songs her mother played has been a big influence on her sound. Birdy learned to play the piano at the age of seven, and began writing her own music at the age of eight. Her father is Rupert Oliver Benjamin van den Bogaerde, a writer (including of Daybreak Into Darkness under the name Rupert Bogarde) her mother is Sophie Patricia (née Roper-Curzon), a concert pianist. The whole idea of Birdy sounds like a transparent attempt to court a more credible audience, but thanks to her haunting tones and a tasteful yet compelling production, it impressively avoids being the try-hard affair you'd expect.Birdy was born on, in Lymington, England, United Kingdom. As clever and subtle as these reworkings are, it's Birdy's youthful and fragile voice that steals the show, whether it's replicating the multi-layered harmonies of Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal," providing a poignancy to Bon Iver's "Skinny Love," or showcasing her scale-gliding abilities on the Postal Service's "The District Sleeps Alone Tonight." The gospel-tinged cover of James Taylor's "Fire and Rain," the only track to sound more expansive than the original, feels slightly out of place, while the unremarkable balladry of the only original composition, "Without a Word," suggests she might have to work a little harder on her songwriting skills if she's to avoid becoming a one-trick pony. The likes of the National's "Terrible Love" and Francis & the Lights' "I'll Never Forget You" offer little deviation from the source material, but for the most part, producers Rich Costey (Muse), James Ford (Arctic Monkeys), and Jim Abiss (Adele) strip the songs down to their bare bones, turning Cherry Ghost's everyman anthem "People Hold the People" into a tender torch song with its stately piano chords and mournful cello, toning down the aggression of the Naked & Famous' synth pop hit "Young Blood" with some muted beats and ethereal twinkling electronica, while somehow turning the already sparse "Shelter" from the xx's Mercury Music Prize winner into an even more skeletal and ghostly affair. Indeed, you won't find any karaoke standards or renditions of Miley Cyrus songs here, as this stripped-back collection of lesser-known hits and album tracks reads like a who's who of lo-fi hipster indie rock. But although its 11 renditions of mostly contemporary songs, many of which could be passed off as originals due to their previous lack of exposure, stick to the tried-and-tested talent show formula, that's where the comparisons end. On the face of it, the self-titled debut from 15-year-old Birdy, aka Jasmine van den Bogaerde, doesn't seem any different from the hastily assembled cash-in covers albums released every year by the various X Factor alumni. ![]()
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