“Jealous of the Birds has a knack for slicing up genres and making music that sounds homemade and tiny,
but also explosive and bombastic.”
– NPR
“Naomi Hamilton’s angelic vocals are like a dream you don’t want to wake up from.”
– The Line of Best Fit
“Hamilton sings with poise and self-assurance in a voice equally capable of whiskey-toned murmurs and full-throated melodicism. Either way, she has a magnetic presence that makes these songs mesmerizing.”
– Paste
Jealous of the Birds – the musical project of Northern Ireland-based singer-songwriter Naomi Hamilton – has announced today’s release of a new single. “Young Neanderthal” is available now via Canvasback Music/Atlantic Records at all DSPs and streaming services; the song is joined by an official companion video – directed, filmed, and edited by Hamilton in her Belfast apartment – streaming now at YouTube HERE.
“For me ‘Young Neanderthal’ is about subverting the expectations others have of you and shedding any kind of implicit self-posturing you may have fallen into,” says Hamilton. “The young Neanderthal character became a metaphor for any naive ways of thinking and passively reacting to circumstance, and so I wanted the song to act as a defiant resignation letter to playing that role.” The song was produced by David Wrench (The XX, David Byrne, Marika Hackman) who Hamilton says, “was a joy to work with. The fact that, along with being a producer and mixing engineer, he’s also a musician, meant that there was an affinity between us throughout the whole creative process. Not only does he have an intimate understanding of the concerns of the artist, but also the language and skill to facilitate their experience in the studio. I felt very seen and united in a passion to make something great.”
“Young Neanderthal” heralds Jealous of the Birds’ eagerly awaited new album, PENINSULA, due via Canvasback/Atlantic on Friday, September 18. Along with David Wrench the album was produced by Marta Salogni (Björk, Anna Meredith, Georgia Ruth), the album follows the recently released single, “
Ode of Fire,” available for streaming and download
HERE; the track arrived alongside an official lyric video, streaming now via Jealous of the Birds’ official YouTube channel
HERE.
Hailed by
NPR for her “remarkable gift for converting spare and common ingredients (voice, acoustic guitar, a bit of whistling) into a sound that’s dense, gently hypnotic and utterly her own,” Naomi Hamilton has recorded and toured as Jealous of the Birds since 2015, earning worldwide critical applause for her intimate lyricism and a dynamic musical approach. Born in Portadown in County Armagh but now based in Belfast, Hamilton first lifted the curtain on Jealous of the Birds’ intensely introspective songcraft with 2015’s CAPRICORN EP, followed the next year by her acclaimed full-length independent debut, PARMA VIOLETS. The album “shatters any preconceived notions,” raved
The Irish Times. “PARMA VIOLETS progresses from whimsical folk-pop to atmospheric indie post-punk of real substance…Hamilton rises to the occasion time and time again.” PARMA VIOLETS is “a thing of ridiculous talent and a mix of all manner of genres,” enthused
The Irish News. “Required listening.”
Jealous of the Birds followed PARMA VIOLETS with a pair of equally well-received EPs – 2018’s
THE MOTHS OF WHAT I WANT WILL EAT ME IN MY SLEEP and 2019’s
WISDOM TEETH, both available now via Canvasback/Atlantic at all DSPs and streaming services. The latter EP – highlighted by such singles as “
Marrow,” “
New York Has A Lump In Her Throat,” and “
Blue Eyes“ – earned high praise from the likes of
Earbuddy, which wrote, “The songs on WISDOM TEETH are full-throated and large…Perhaps as Jealous of the Birds plays to larger audiences, the songs are matching those demands. Hamilton’s lyricism, however, remains very much the same – these songs chronicle human connections and vivid sensory details.” “Yet another intriguing mix of sonically disparate elements from one of music’s most promising young musicians,” declared
Soundblab. “Pairing Hamilton’s subdued vocals with quirky, adventurous arrangements, the EP finds (Jealous of the Birds) taking yet another huge leap forward as an artist.” “Hamilton breezes through topics like love and city life with a skilled hand, capturing an array of conflicting emotions and experiences in every song,” wrote Australia’s
AMNplify. “WISDOM TEETH is the friend that tells you all will be well, no need to worry. This is the new soundtrack to your twenties.”
Last year also saw the release of the standalone single, “
The Grass Begins to Eat Itself,” available now for streaming and download following its exclusive premiere via New York City’s WFUV 90.7. In addition, NPR Music presented a spellbinding live performance of the song, filmed last September during a prestigious WFUV Marquee Members show at NYC’s Rockwood Music Hall and streaming
HERE.
Along with her musical output, Hamilton also hosts the
JEALOUS OF THE BOPS podcast, featuring in-depth discussions of classic LPs by artists spanning Fleet Foxes and Marvin Gaye to Miriam Makeba and Adam and the Ants.
