We’re late to the party though, thankfully, good music doesn’t have an expiry date and, as such, we recommend that you indulge in discovering the latest album by Amateur Ornithologist titled “Hide” and released by Regret Everything Records on 19 January 2024.

Self-described as “a weird pop group from North East England” puts a smile on our face as we understand what they mean, though we’d probably lean more towards avant-garde, experimental, art-rock as relevant music labels – although “weird pop” should become a genre in its own right now. Amateur Ornithologist have been compared to the likes of Talking Heads, The Beach Boys and fellow north east group Field Music due to their adventurous approach to densely-layered, harmony-filled pop. The band’s neurodivergent members have found a home for their musical expressions; fusing pop, orchestral, jazz and rock influences to create a grand melodic sound.

“‘Hide’ examines the boundaries between the urban and the natural; the mundane and the supernatural; with songs concerning pre-death autopsies, mythic ley-lines, and time-altering natural disasters. First single, ‘If It Looks Like Magic’, is a slice of gothic post-punk about the Cottingley Fairies and received airplay from BBC Introducing and Amazing Radio. Follow-up ‘The Word is Love’ deals with deceivingly simple matters of the heart to an acoustic Latin backdrop with call-and-response vocals. Third single ‘Time To Talk’ charts the difficulties of modern communication, reflected in sharp key and time signature changes, jerky rhythms and squealing sax.”

Having experienced the album both live (in-person at various gigs in the north east and as well as at the band’s tremendous festival appearance at Aelius Alternative Festival) and on-record, we can safely attest to its musical quality.

The album itself captures the band’s sound and identity well and is a solid body of work that showcases a wide range of instrumentation and bold artistic directions that stray into fun and creative territories, as such, this is a wonderful album that counter-balances the swathe of indie-rock that is released weekly and largely deals with drink-culture, nights out, and young love. Thank goodness for Amateur Ornithologist and their creative direction that gives music fans something fresh and different.

We could spend more paragraphs dissecting the album but feel that it’s more beneficial to assure you that it’s a great record and encourage you to simply experience it for yourself below. Enjoy.

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