Birds Are Better – Super Highway (2023)
From Nordic Music Central to Illustrate Magazine, Independent Music Reviews, Sound and Vision and HQ Indie, Norwegian artist Birds Are Better is certainly turning heads across the globe. In fact, his singles have even been featured on Spotify’s official ‘New Music Friday Norway’ playlist. The solo project of singer-songwriter Stian Fjelldal, Birds Are Better fuses elements of traditional folk, pop, indie-pop and synth-rock into a unique sound that is entirely his own. The latest addition to his discography is the single ‘Super Highway’.
Already hitting our virtual pages, we referred to Birds Are Better as the meeting of Mumford and Sons and Charlie Puth but this talented musician continues to surprise us. Leaning far more toward traditional folk in ‘Super Highway’, Birds Are Better already showcases his versatility moving from synth-pop ‘Oblivion, Bliss’ and folk-pop ‘Marigold’. Opening with a mellifluous old-school folk tone, we are immediately tossed back to the 1970s and 1980s with a nostalgic blast. Yet, while traditional folk tones continue throughout ‘Super Highway’, Birds Are Better brings his contemporary slant incorporating modern-day pop sounds into the melody.
One element I find particularly intriguing is the inclusion of a solo keyboard to end ‘Super Highway’. The tune may have a kaleidoscopic vibe with a hazy ambience, however, once the keyboard hits it is an abrupt break to simplistic, minimalistic beauty. Only three tracks in with about a year behind him, Birds Are Better should show a raw innocence in his music but the sophistication of his melodies is far superior to any newbie.
Birds Are Better explains that ‘Super Highway’ is a “song about coming home, whether it’s an end or a new beginning” – this is clearly aligned in the enchanting single. Perhaps the trailing off with a simple piano/keyboard is one saying goodbye to a previous life and hello to something entirely new and exciting. Well, we find Birds Are Better exciting and cannot wait for his upcoming debut album (set for release in May 2023).
For more from Birds Are Better, check out his Spotify.
This artist was discovered via Musosoup #sustainablecurator
