iTunes Single of the Week Review: Birdy’s ‘Without A Word’

From the homeland of Adele and Florence and the Machines comes a new warm-blooded young soul with a uniquely tender voice, Birdy. Of all the free songs available from iTunes Music Store, her single “,” is by far the best free track one could ever hope to fly into.

Only fifteen years old, this songbird opens with a pirouette that will acquaint the listener’s ears to the grace of her voice. A breakup song, Birdy, the stage name for Jasmine van den Bogaerde, rains open the strains of a squeezed heart.

In the first verse Bogaerde opens her song with the much-hackneyed scene where a lover is on his way out of her life. Her lovely lyrics triumph with delicate tones that deliver romantic heartfelt words, “And you can tell them all / That it’s over / But while you wave goodbye/ I’ll be getting closer,” that are straight and simple, yet they ruffle the feathers of one’s heart.

In the next verse Bogaerde bravely stands up to face the beloved in her song: “Stand there and look into my eyes / And tell me that all we had were lies.” There’s no doubt about the soul embedded in her song, wonderfully widespread from start to finish, but at this point one’s senses are overwhelmed by the feelings that wells through, a pleasurable reception that’s so rare to find from new young artists of Bogaerde’s age.

Bogaerde learned to play the piano when she was seven, then, a year later, she started to sing and write her own songs. At the age of twelve she took part in the British talent show, “Open Mic UK,” where against thousands of other talents, Bogaerde not only won the 18-under category, but took home the grand prize with the performance of her own song, “Be Free,” which has been viewed more than a million times on YouTube.

Bogaerde comes to the states this year with her nom de plum album “Birdy,” which in the U.K. peaked at number thirteen and garnered various critical acclaim and recognition. The album and her single, “Without A Word,” are both available for download via the iTunes Music Store where, for a limited time, the single can be downloaded, for free, by visiting the “Free On iTunes,” the link for the page is found on the sidebar of the Music store.