A strong Laurel Canyon-style americana debut with words of love but also introspection.
Lovebirds is Birds Flying Backwards’ debut album after a couple of EPs, The Serenity Now Variations (2023) and Surrender to The Void (2024). It is Laurel Canyon-style americana with more than a nod to the seventies. They have their own unique style but are in the same ballpark as The Eagles and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. London-based, they toured with The Hanging Stars in 2024, and you can see the two bands as kindred spirits. However, Birds Flying Backwards are gentler, less of a rock band than The Hanging Stars, and without much psychedelia on this record, even though their publicity mentions their “droning psychedelia”.
They are a six-piece, based around songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Joe Russell-Sanders, and formed from family and friends. The music here, recorded “live” over four days in 2025, is a rich and rewarding experience. To start with, the vocals work very well, with Russell-Sanders often leading but with India Vingoe duetting slightly lower in the mix. There are those Laurel Canyon harmonies in evidence, at times, too. The various instruments complement each other very well to give a satisfying sound. Alex Chalstrey’s piano work is excellent, teetering between honky-tonk and jazz, and filling in beautifully. Lead guitar is gentle at times, but there are more upfront, languid Eric Clapton-like solos elsewhere. It has to be said, though, that some of the tracks have extended instrumental endings, which may not appeal to those who like the brevity of, say, The Ramones or Motown.
Russell-Sanders seems to be a man in touch with his emotions and not macho at all. He says: “Lovebirds is an ode to love in all its forms; romantic love, love for friends, familial love, heartbreak… (it) stands as a testament to the unifying power, enduring beauty and the profound but life-affirming sadness that love, in all its forms, inevitably brings”. There is a realistic view of love that is not sugar-coated, but which is still very welcome and heart-warming in this time of division and anger.
The album starts with One Heartbreak To Another where the singer thinks he has found love, but is heartbroken when it ends. He feels he is back to square one. Next, All I Need is a tender love song to a partner. Then, the excellent Ain’t No Use In Cryin’ is the only solidly country song on show here, with alternate male and female vocals. Here, there is advice about accepting the rough times in your love life: “Mama told me, boy, some day you’ll see/ you’ll get your heart broke eventually/ But that’s okay”. My Friends memorably and skilfully deals with love for friends “My friends are wonderful/ I am so proud of them/ When we do things every day/ But they get lonely too/ I wonder what we’ll do/ When we go our separate ways”.
In the second part of the album, it gets more introspective. Open Skies, with a sound like a later Teenage Fanclub track, has the writer trying to have a positive view of the world but finding this difficult. In If I Ever Needed Someone, with a bluegrass feel in the vocals, he is trying to hide his sorrow and pain. The seventies soft-rock of Peace Of Mind has him looking for that very thing. Moving On has guitar picking and woodwind, with the singer trying to grow as a person. In Sometimes he goes from feeling high to low. There is also a nice cover of Lamar’s If There’s Any Justice, which is less soulful than the original. The group make it their own by slowing it down and adding their trademark harmonies.
This debut, with its good and memorable melodies and touching and interesting lyrics, is strong and suggests that the group has a bright future ahead.
