Following the release of their fifth album Not Your Kind of People, Garbage met in a Los Angeles basement to commence work on their sixth release. Three years later, the resultant Strange Little Birds is here today.
The first thing that struck with this record was how much Garbage had returned to the sounds of their self-titled debut. When you have a career as long and successful as the one Garbage hold, it can often risk coming across dated and desperate returning to an older sound. This is not the case with Strange Little Birds however; it feels natural and genuine.
Opening with the haunting Sometimes before rushing into the industrial lead single Empty, Garbage never fails to keep it fresh. Shirley Manson’s vocals are vulnerable but powerful, well supported by the pulsing rhythms provided by Butch Vig and Co. She talks jealousy and insecurity on If I Lost You, a highlight of the record. The light electronic synth licks are both an incredible treat to any longtime Garbage fan, and an exciting blend of modern music. Strange Little Birds highlights why Garbage is one of the most important rock bands of both the 1990’s and the modern era. Very few acts have hit with the consistency that they have, and this new record is no exception.
The record shifts tonally towards the second half, maintaining the album’s themes of the personal and the vulnerable. However, tracks like We Never Tell are almost saccharine in their delivery. Garbage meld the high energy ‘wall of sound’ style, with storytelling in a highly successful way.
In a lot of ways, this is an incredibly dark and personal record. “Can you love me for what I’ve become?” Manson asks, a question I’m sure most have asked. There is a strange comfort in the darkness, a sense that everyone goes through the emotions told in this record. Strange Little Birds explores the personal in a very unified manner. The album closes with Amends, which serves as the perfect closer, completely summing up the record as a collective piece.
Strange Little Birds proves that three years is a small price to pay for an excellent Garbage album.
Strange Little Birds is out June 10 through Liberator Music/Stunvolume
Words by Chris Palmer
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