Review of Amy Kuney's Album "Bird's Eye View"
Indie Pop Musician's Debut Showcases Her Immense Talent
Sep 10, 2009
Amy Kuney's debut album, Bird's Eye View, is a collection of original songs rich with piano and guitar chords, smooth vocals, and even some brass. Half of these songs were written during her time living in Honduras, after a traumatic kidnapping motivated her to begin writing music.
The other half she wrote upon returning to the United States and moving to Los Angeles. There she started working with Spin Move Records, who released the album in 2008.
Breaking the Album Down Track-By-Track
The ten tracks on the album include a wide variety of instrumentals and contain fresh, well-written, and often intriguing lyrics. Many songs deal with personal and/or romantic relationships (such as "Thank You For Last Night"), while others focus on something more abstract (like "Angel Tangled in the Telephone Lines").
Many of the song titles, which Kuney often thinks of before even writing the lyrics, are unusual and add to the enigmatic quality of some of the tracks. Best not to skip a single track on this album, which flows nicely with contrasts between mellow and upbeat.
"Simple Things"
"Simple Things" starts the album off with a mellow tone, but it picks up at the chorus with backing vocals, drums, and guitar chords. The song's message is straightforward (appreciating simple things in life), but comes across through lyrics that go beyond stereotypical sayings on the subject.
"Rocket Surgery"
With "Rocket Surgery," the pace of the album gets kicked up a notch. With staccato piano chords during the verses and drum rolls throughout, this song is fun to listen to. The title came from Kuney being inspired when her mother mixed up the phrases "rocket science" and "brain surgery."
"Angel Tangled in the Telephone Lines"
"Angel Tangled in the Telephone Lines" is a smooth, almost haunting melody with lyrics that are a bit of an enigma (and in this case, very well written). Kuney's vocal talent stands out, particularly during the chorus, which contains a few higher, tough-to-hit notes.
"Would You Miss Me"
This upbeat, fun, fast-paced song may seem a bit out of place at first after the previous track. But "Would You Miss Me" provides a nice contrast, and works far better as a complement to "Angel Tangled in the Telephone Lines" than another mellow track would.
"Thank You For Last Night"
This is a beautiful song and probably the most positive on the album lyric-wise about being in an exclusive romantic relationship. The song starts out slow, but picks up in the second half of the first verse, building up toward the chorus.
"Love is Trippy"
"Love is Trippy" is a song that jolts listeners out of the relaxed mood they may have fallen into while listening to the previous song. The opening is dominated by brass instrumentation, and the rest of the song is just as upbeat. The lyrics, however, are actually fairly bitter, as suggested by the song's title.
"Appreciate Your Hands"
Another beautiful song that opens with a flow of piano notes. String and wind instruments add to the song's musical composition as the song progresses. This track, like "Simple Things" and "Angel Tangled in the Telephone Lines," among others, showcases Kuney's vocal talent.
"Time Machine"
"Time Machine" has a sound very similar to that of Ingrid Michaelson. Guitar-infused with unexpected male backing vocals, this is a mellow song worth listening to.
"Under My Bed"
This song is in two parts. The first part bears a similar framework to Kuney's other songs (verse, chorus, etc.) but the final minute takes on an unusual twist, combining instrumentals with spoken, not sung, words. It ends up winding down nicely, providing a good preface for the final track of the album.
"Bird's Eye View"
Both the title track and final track on the album, "Bird's Eye View" is a mellow song with a chorus that fits with the theme of Kuney's whole album: change and transition. The change and transition is apparent in the changes between tracks. But in a larger sense it is in the fact that some songs were written while she was in Honduras and some after her return to the United States. With her she brought an entirely different perspective on life, and her perceptiveness can be sensed on this whole album.
To learn more about Amy Kuney and to get her debut album Bird's Eye View, check out her myspace page and the website for her record label, Spin Move Records. Kuney will be on a tour featuring the songs from Bird's Eye View during the fall of 2009. For those interested in additional music from Amy Kuney, tracks from her EP and a few singles and covers are available on iTunes. Bird's Eye View is just one showcase of this up-and-coming artist's talent.
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