Victoria: Birds of Bellwoods Album Review

On October 19th, Toronto-based Birds of Bellwoods hit a momentous milestone. They released their first full-length album, Victoria.

It’s been a five-year journey, one that we’ve been following pretty closely. We’re super excited for the band, and they’re pretty excited too. Their adventure has been dotted with numerous club shows, so many festivals, awards, recognition, over a million streams, the release of their first EP, The Fifth, signing with eOne Entertainment, and we’re sure, lots of fun was had and possibly, a few lessons learned.

We’ve had glimpses of this album as far back as a year ago, coincidently for the track, A Year Ago and Catching Up as audio tracks on YouTube. As well as the release of the single Let You Go, which was in the Top 40 at Alternative Radio in Canada, it hit #1 on SiriusXM’s The Verge chart, and it was featured as CBC’s Song Of The Week. More recently they released the very cool black and white performance video for Let You Go which has over 58,000 views on YouTube. And last month, leading into the album release, they posted a fun lyric video for Melatonin.

My only question here is, what’s the next single and what will the video look like?

It’s hard to come up with a single theme for Victoria. Bringing love, heartbreak, friendship, growing up, getting older, fear, hope, doubt and more to the table, the album is a time capsule of the lives of the band members.

The sound is still Birds of Bellwoods. You’ll hear banjo and mandolin, amazing bass lines and beautiful guitar, Stephen Joffe’s distinct vocals and heavenly harmonies, but it’s also more. I welcome the addition of horns, drums, electric guitar and keys to this outfit. The production levels have come up and for me, the music defies genre pigeon-holing. It’s alternative folk, it’s pop-folk, it’s pop-rock. It’s radio-friendly, but it comes with thoughtful, relatable lyrics, catchy choruses, memorable hooks and it was worth waiting for.

In a quote from the band, they expressed, “In a lot of ways, when we finished Victoria we saw for the first time the combined weight of our lives so far,” the band reflects. “Years of love, fear, hope, and doubt, made into a celebration. I’m moving on. I love you. I’m getting older and I’m scared. Some of these songs started more than five years ago. Some were created much faster, late in the recording process. Victoria is a time capsule, as all albums are. A span of youth. And we are excited to share it with you.”

If you like this album and haven’t seen the band live yet, you’re doing yourself a disservice. Get out and see Birds of Bellwoods, we promise you won’t regret it.

Birds of Bellwoods Upcoming Tour Dates

Nov 27     Edmonton, AB – Temple
Nov 28     Red Deer, AB – The Vat
Nov 29     Calgary, AB – The Gateway Bar
Dec 1        Kamloops, BC – Blue Grotto
Dec 2       Vancouver, BC – The Railway
Dec 6       Barrie, ON – The Foxx
Dec 8       Burnstown, ON – Neat Cafe
Dec 9       London, ON – Rum Runners
Dec 13     Waterloo, ON – Maxwell’s
Dec 14     Windsor, ON – Green Bean
Dec 15     Niagara Falls, ON – Taps Brewery
Dec 16     Hamilton, ON – Mills Hardware

Birds of Bellwoods Victoria Track List

1.  Melatonin
2.  A Year Ago
3.  Don’t Look Back
4.  Hey Hey
5.  Catching Up
6.  Something Good
7.  My Heart Is Yours
8.  Kiss Me
9.  Let You Go
10. Leaving Song

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Trish Cassling

Writer/Photographer/Editor

Toronto Music Blogger