7 Oct 2024
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The Wax Birds - Album Review: A Steady Hope

08 Aug 2024 // A review by Daniel Jones


The Wax Birds are an acoustic, country-folk duo based on the West Coast of Canterbury. Originally from Yorkshire (UK), the duo took advantage of the down time, during the chaos of 2020, to create their own unique sound and brand of country folk ballads as well as reinventing some of their favourite and most inspired cover songs.

A Steady Hope opens on Bell & Hall, which draws similarities to Eva Cassidy or early Dolly Parton with its story telling narrative and soft vocal stylings that intertwine effortlessly with each other. The new album follows a pattern, of which many can relate to, coming to grips of becoming a new parent. In the track Co-Parent the lyrics “I know when you look at her, you think she’s look a little like me” are pretty descriptive and telling for that time. The Wax Birds clearly have a love for storytelling, with tracks like ‘Don’t want to know’ and Perfect Example, showing their ability to articulate, imagine and draw you into their perception of the world. 

This is the first release since their second album Yellowhammer in 2023, Pete (guitarist and vocalist) claims "For me, recording our music at home and putting it out there is more about the documenting of work, telling the story of our own journeys, sharing our own feelings and passions, and not letting our art disappear with us - a common thought shared with our friends who are older musicians.”

Walk The World really demonstrates the soulful country style vocal, reminiscent of Anthony Hamilton and Elayna Boynton on tracks like ‘Freedom”, and really shows the range in which The Wax Birds are capable of exploring. It’s hard to pin point a style, or a comparison on A Steady Hope, I hear ‘The Beautiful South’ then ‘She and Him' and even a bit of delta blues from the 1950's and 60's.

Regardless of genre intertwining styles, A Steady Hope is a great and rounded record that’s starts hopeful and ends hopeful with the final track Easy, a nice end to a very personal account of one couples journey from parenthood to a new, potentially challenging, future, where in each other they can find solace “Easy come and easy go, but that's not really true, because nothings been as easy as loving you’ 

 

About The Wax Birds

The Wax Birds are an Acoustic Duo based in Oxford, Canterbury.

They moved to New Zealand from the UK back in 2016.

They cover a range of songs spanning the last 80 years and love to put their spin on all genres.

Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for The Wax Birds

Releases

A Steady Hope
Year: 2024
Type: Album
Yellowhammer
Year: 2023
Type: Album
Slow Rise
Year: 2020
Type: Album

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