Little Birdy - Tonight'sThe Night

Tue 4th Jan, 2005 in Music Reviews

Since 2003’s eponymous EP, Perth’s Little Birdy have moved away from the darker, more emotional strains of Relapse and I Should Have Known, and established themselves as a style-over-substance band, with a debut album containing numerous well-crafted pop songs.

Tonight’s The Night is a fitting choice for the album’s second single, bolstering the band’s reputation for writing hook-laden pop songs with gorgeous melodies.

A live staple for well over a year, Tonight’s The Night benefits from the slick production skills of Paul McKercher, expanding the song’s sound dramatically. The track also justifies the addition of a fifth member, guitarist and keyboardist Fergus Deasy – one time touring guitarist with fellow sandgropers Eskimo Joe – to the lineup. Deasy’s parts add sparkle to the chorus, and work perfectly with guitarists Katy Steele and Simon Leach in the latter stages of the song.

Also included is a demo version of Forever, which ended up on the album. Written by guitarist Simon Leach, the song has a different tone and vibe to Steele’s material, and on BigBigLove stood out as one of the album’s more forgettable moments. Curiously, the demo version sounds much more honest, and sounds better without the cover of studio production.

Rounding off the single are two remixes of one of BigBigLove’s strongest tracks, Losing You. These two curious additions to the single are not the most accessible for new fans, but will provide enough to keep the band’s dedicated followers happy until the next release hits shelves. While Tonight’s the Night – co-written by Steele and drummer Matt Chequer – and Leach’s Forever, establish this release as a full band project, the remixes are just enough to create images of Steele as a pop diva in her own right.