Birdy (Birdy album)

Birdy
Studio album by Birdy
Released	4 November 2011
Studio	Abbey Road Studios, Angel Studios, Dean Street Studios, RAK Studios (London, England) Eldorado Recording Studios (Burbank, California) The Mill House Studio (Lymington, England) River Studios (Southampton, England)
Genre	Indie folk
Length	44:02
Label	14th Floor Atlantic
Producer	Jim Abbiss Rich Costey James Ford Alex H. N. Gilbert Paul 'P-Dub' Walton
Birdy chronology
Birdy (2011) Fire Within (2013)
Singles from Birdy
"Skinny Love" Released: 30 January 2011 "Shelter" Released: 3 June 2011 "People Help the People" Released: 28 October 2011 "1901" Released: 9 March 2012

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	61/100[1]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
BBC Music	Favourable[3]
The Daily Telegraph	[4]
The Guardian	[5]
musicOMH	[6]
NME	5/10[7]
The Observer	[8]
PopMatters	[9]
Rolling Stone	[10]

Birdy is the debut studio album by English musician Birdy, released on 4 November 2011 by Atlantic Records. The album includes the singles "Skinny Love", "Shelter", "People Help the People" and "1901".

Singles

"Skinny Love" was released on 30 January 2011 as the first single from the album,^[11] which was a cover of a song by American indie folk band Bon Iver. The cover reached a peak of number 17 on the UK Singles Chart.

"Shelter" was released as the second single from the album on 3 June 2011. The song covers a track by English indie pop group The xx and peaked at number 50 in the UK.

"People Help the People" was released as the album's third single on 28 October 2011.^[12] The song is a cover of the song by English indie rock band Cherry Ghost and peaked at number 33 in the UK.

"1901" was released in the UK on 9 March 2012 as the album's fourth and final single. It is a cover of the song by French indie rock band Phoenix.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"1901" (by Phoenix)	Thomas Pablo Croquet Christian Mazzalai Laurent Mazzalai Frederic Jean Joseph Moulin	Rich Costey	5:11
2.	"Skinny Love" (by Bon Iver)	Justin Vernon	Alex H. N. Gilbert	3:23
3.	"People Help the People" (by Cherry Ghost)	Simon John Aldred	James Ford	4:16
4.	"White Winter Hymnal" (by Fleet Foxes)	Robin Noel Pecknold	Ford	2:17
5.	"The District Sleeps Alone Tonight" (by The Postal Service)	Jimmy Tamborello Ben Gibbard	Jim Abbiss	4:44
6.	"I'll Never Forget You" (by Francis and the Lights)	Francis Farewell Starlite	Abbiss	3:47
7.	"Young Blood" (by The Naked and Famous)	Alisa Xayalith Thomas Brading Powers Aaron Phillip Short	Costey	4:04
8.	"Shelter" (by The xx)	Oliver David Sim Romy Anna Madley Croft Baria Qureshi James Thomas Smith	Abbiss Paul 'P-Dub' Walton^[a] Gilbert^[a]	3:44
9.	"Fire and Rain" (by James Taylor)	James V. Taylor	Ford	3:07
10.	"Without a Word"	Birdy	Costey	4:46
11.	"Terrible Love" (by The National)	Matthew Donald Berninger Aaron Brooking Dessner	Costey	4:43
Total length:				44:02

Deluxe edition bonus tracks[13]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Comforting Sounds" (by Mew)	Jonas Bjerre Johan Wohlert Bo Madsen Silas Jørgensen	Costey	8:57
13.	"Farewell and Goodnight" (by The Smashing Pumpkins)	James Iha	Abbiss	2:02
14.	"People Help the People" (RAK Studios Session)	Aldred		4:17
Total length:				59:18

Australian special edition bonus tracks[14]
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
12.	"Just a Game"	Van den Bogaerde	T Bone Burnett	3:51
13.	"What You Want" (by John Butler Trio)	John Butler	Abbiss	4:12
Total length:				52:05

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies an additional producer

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Birdy.^[15]

Birdy – vocals, piano Jim Abbiss – drum machine, production Leo Abrahams – effects, guitar Ben Baptie – mixing assistance Jess Barratt – management Rupert Bogarde – engineering James Brown – engineering Ian Burdge – cello Greg Calbi – mastering Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion Alessandro Cortini – synthesisers Rich Costey – engineering, mixing, noise, production, strange noises, synthesisers Paul Craig – management Neil Cowley – organ, piano Dan Curwin – back cover photograph Ian Dowling – engineering Lauren Dukoff – photography

Tom Elmhirst – mixing James Ford – drums, guitar, percussion, production Wally Gagel – bass Alex H. N. Gilbert – A&R, additional production, executive production, production, studio photography Kirk Hellie – guitar Gareth Henderson – engineering Chris Kasych – assistant engineering Alex MacNaghten – bass Stephen Webster Mair – double bass Jamie Muhoberac – keyboards, piano, synthesisers Audrey Riley – string arrangements, string conducting Lucy Shaw – cello Christian Tattersfield – executive production Christopher Tombling – orchestra leader Paul 'P-Dub' Walton – additional production, engineering, mixing Richard Woodcraft – engineering

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2011–13) Peak position Australian Albums (ARIA)[16] 1 Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 14 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[18] 1 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[19] 2 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[20] 33 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[21] 1 French Albums (SNEP)[22] 5 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[23] 14 Irish Albums (IRMA)[24] 4 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[25] 4 Polish Albums (ZPAV)[26] 13 Scottish Albums (OCC)[27] 18 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[28] 52 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[29] 3 UK Albums (OCC)[30] 13 US Billboard 200[31] 62 US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[31] 12 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[31] 15

Year-end charts Chart (2011) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[32] 74 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[33] 42 Chart (2012) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[34] 10 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[35] 3 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[36] 7 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[37] 3 French Albums (SNEP)[38] 12 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[39] 70 UK Albums (OCC)[40] 179 Chart (2013) Position Australian Albums (ARIA)[41] 73 French Albums (SNEP)[42] 30 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[43] 73 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[44] 46 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 14

Certifications

Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[46]	Platinum	70,000
Austria (IFPI Austria)[47]	Gold	10,000
Belgium (BEA)[48]	Platinum	30,000
France (SNEP)[49]	3× Platinum	300,000
Germany (BVMI)[50]	Platinum	200,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[51]	Platinum	50,000
New Zealand (RMNZ)[52]	Gold	7,500
Poland (ZPAV)[53]	Gold	10,000
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[54]	Platinum	30,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[55]	Gold	180,457[56]
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone ^xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history

Region	Date	Label	Ref.
Belgium	4 November 2011	Warner	[57]
Ireland		14th Floor Atlantic	[58]
United Kingdom	7 November 2011		[59]
Netherlands	11 November 2011	Warner	[60]
United States	20 March 2012	Warner Bros.	[61]
Germany	23 March 2012	Warner	[62]
Poland	26 March 2012		[63]
Australia	20 April 2012		[64]
France	30 April 2012		[65]

References

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External links

• Birdy at Discogs (list of releases)
• Birdy at MusicBrainz (list of releases)