With light, online dating anthem "SWIPE," and retro-horror flick video for "Mega Hot Super Babe" under their belts in 2021, Charleston-based quintet Little Bird is here with ALPHA, a nine-track EP featuring lyrical songs and instrumental interludes. Of the project, Alt Citizen wrote, "[ALPHA] still has that fresh feeling to it – a little bit like that optimistic, not-a-care-in-the-world feeling of a kid who still gets excited about Christmas...it's a little bit jam band, a little bit jazz, a little bit indie rock, some R&B – and add some spacey synths in there for fun."
Listen to ALPHA now: ONErpm.lnk.to/proximaalpha
Upon release of the first single, "SWIPE," IMPOSE Magazine wrote, "Reminiscent of artists like Tom Misch or Crumb, 'SWIPE' immediately draws listeners in with its smooth and syrupy basslines, glittering keyboard tones, and relatable lyrics...placing Little Bird among the ranks of modern psychedelia’s finest."
Backseat Mafia called second single, "Mega Hot Super Babe," "A little ray of funk infused sunshine, which just hints towards 80s yacht rock (think Robert Palmer / Hall and Oates) as these frankly gorgeous melodies are adorned by popping bass lines, sly guitar figure that hop in and out and these glowing synths which cascade over it all."
ALPHA is the first of the three-part EP series–aptly entitled ALPHA, BETA and GAMMA–where the band begins a chronicling of their journey through the universal human experience of life’s turbulent moments. The resulting 23-track odyssey, Proxima LP, is a collection of songs that survey the various celestial aspects of the human condition, examined humbly through the eyes of naiveté.
ALPHA is the most experimental of the three-part series, yet still the most familiar-sounding to listeners–it marks the beginning transition from the old Little Bird to the new.
"We've been working on the music of Proxima for quite some time. The span of ALPHA and GAMMA is about two years, from the idea hitting us to actually pressing the record," says Hurtts. "It's wild to hear the growth from the first EP of the series through the final EP—you can listen to us settle in by the second EP, BETA, where we start to take our time and really get comfortable, which is cool."
Hurtts continues, "In the past, we've recorded in some studio paying lots of money per day to record, but for this compilation we recorded in our own space and it was the first time we recorded something that feels like ourselves. We produced it all ourselves at Mega Hot Records in Charleston, SC, we sent it to our dear friend & mixing engineer, the great Jeff Lucci, and after he got a hold of it, it started to really come alive."
ALPHA is out everywhere today.
Check out Little Bird's website and official Facebook for more information and stay tuned for more from Little Bird on Spotify and Bandcamp.
