Casee Wilson: Hummingbird [Album Review]

Once again dear readers, music lovers and fellow humans here’s something for your ears from the musical melting pot of York. Casee Wilson released her 4th album “Hummingbird”, which a 12 track piano driven beauty with plenty of heart and soul carried through out. If you’re a fan of Kate Bush, Ella Fitzgerald or even Depeche Mode, Casee Wilson is right up your street. Combining basically any piano driven/with keys from the 80s and 90s to come up with her sound.

From a personal perspective, whats great to hear about the songs chosen for this record is that they have been road tested, songs like “Tiny Hands”, “Super” and “As Shadows Fall” bring back memories of playing around York at places like the Black Swan and seeing her use a vocal loop pedal live. This record is really pure, heartfelt and honest. The title track itself that kicks off this record gives you that light feel kind of like that of a Hummingbird flying, with the addition of harmonies and synths accompanying Casee’s voice this feel is only extended.

In this record you can hear the charm of Casees voice, it’s full bodied and rich in tone. Even when her voice is distorted on “As Shadows Fall” you can still feel the presence of her voice, through the multiple layers of harmonies and genuine lyrics.

This record is a real step up for Casee, the development of this artist is subtle, her voice and piano playing has always been a pleasure to witness but development for myself is scene in the production. The piano feels like she’s playing in an old church and her vocals are stronger and as lovely as ever but they have more space on this than previous releases. The additional elements of synths, harmonies, percussions are captured well in not taking you away from the main focus of her voice and lyrics, which are welcome addition to through out, just like this record.

The charming part of this is if you were to allow your minds eye to focus on the music, you could see a hummingbird taking note of the world surrounding it and the experiences of whats happening in our world.

A must listen to off this record for myself “Burn”, which would make the perfect music for any drama or television show. It’s got that haunting intro of her voice and just single piano chords that build nicely into the chorus of “Burn” beautifully. The lyrics to this are genuinely honest. From what I’m getting about the lyrics it feels as though she’s talking about the writing process and the struggle of being a creative,

“Fan the fire and feed the flame, bare my soul and I’m whole again, open my heart and scorch it clean…”

This record is a real testament to Casee Wilson as a songwriter, it’s open, it’s honest and it’s full of elements that anyone who is a fan of subtle nuances will adore this record.