BIRDIE BUSCH

Pattern of Saturn

2009-09-08

One word comes to mind after listening to the latest from Emily "Birdie" Busch titled Pattern of Saturn - POTENTIAL. Yes, this girl has great potential mostly because of her ability to coin catchy melodies with everyday life kind of lyrics. For you new comers, think of a Laura Veirs/Jenny Lewis kind of mix, and this is what you might have. On the opener, "Penny Arcade," what's immediately evident is the beauty of Birdie's voice along with a lush melody making for a really terrific song. On "Bordertown," Birdie takes on the voice of a Mexican dishwasher (Gabino) and creates another song well worthy of a listen or two. One of the best is the short but worthy "Roll It." Here, the singer/songwriter delves into what some might describe as 'rockabilly' as she sings: "This space between us / it's much too wide / I guess with earthquakes / come divides." Another effort deserving of 'Best Of' status is the song "Hometown Boredom," which scales things back a bit for a more mellow and melancholy sound. All in all, perhaps the biggest disappointment with Birdie's latest is the length of the effort as a whole. Coming in at just over thirty-three minutes - with two songs of extremely short length - what you're left with here is an album with nine songs that begs the question: Why not more? Great potential? You bet. Room for improvement? Absolutely. ~Reviewed by Jeff Bouma

Quick Links:

• Official Birdie Busch Website
• Birdie on Myspace