It’s a big day for new music releases. While everyone is buzzing about the new Wiggles album, there’s a chance ThornBird’s self-titled debut may fly under the radar. That would be a great shame because it’s a really special collection of songs.
In case you didn’t know, ThornBird is Vikki Thorn, one-third of The Waifs. This album is no Waifs album. That might be jarring for some fans, but I encourage you to leave your expectations behind and embrace what this album is. The bluesy opening track “That Kinda Man” sets the scene. It’s stripped back and raw, ensuring ThornBird’s voice spends time in the spotlight. That’s only fitting because this is an album that puts her voice front and centre. In The Waifs, she was one of three. Blending in was important. Through this album, I feel like I’ve gotten to know Vikki, her strength, her vulnerability, her playfulness, her power.
The songs are Vikki’s stories from her time living in Utah, but it might be unfair to call ThornBird a solo album though. Because if not for Vikki’s backing band this album may not have happened. She stumbled across them one night playing “dirty folk blues” in the corner of a bar. They looked like they’d had a few too many, but their natural chemistry and the way they played so raw and edgy blew Vikki away. She was determined to make a record with them, and so this album was born. While Vikki’s voice is strong, they bring these songs together. I can’t imagine these songs without the epic guitar solo of “Big Girl Pants” or the beautiful harmonica and slide guitar in “Hells Backbone.”
I can imagine what it might feel to hear these songs in a honky-tonk bar as I listen to this album. You can hear the electricity between Vikki and her band as their voices harmonise on “All the Things” and the heartbreaking closer “Rough Patch.” “All I Want” is a fantastic country-rock duet. You know the love’s not perfect, but it’s palpable. Even when their voices don’t combine, Vikki and her bandmates are communicating as the instruments interplay with her vocals.
ThornBird is out today. Vikki will bring these songs to the people at the following theatre, festival, and bar gigs.
11 March 2022 – Queenscliff Town Hall, Queenscliff
12 March 2022 – Wildflower Festival @ Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley
18 March 2022 – Imperial Hotel, Eumundi
19 March 2022 – Wildflower Festival @ RiverStage, Brisbane
20 March 2022 – Byron Theatre, Byron Bay
2 April 2022 – Wildflower Festival @ Roche Estate, Hunter Valley
3 April 2022 – Heritage Hotel, Bulli
6 April 2022 – Brunswick Ballroom, Melbourne
7 April 2022 – Meeniyan Town Hall, Meeniyan
8 April 2022 – The Gov, Adelaide
9 April 2022 – Kings Park, Perth
Images used with permission from Revolutions per Minute; feature photo credit: Toni Wilkinson