After his two singles “Mountain” and “Morning Sun”, M. Byrd now releases his first EP titled Orion – four songs full of vastness and warmth, carried by the feeling of passing trees outside a backseat car window and the melancholic homesickness that sometimes goes along with. Just one year ago, the first sign of life appeared with “Mountain” and the interim summary is impressive: M. Byrd has become one of the most exciting newcomers on the European music scene, counts 3.5 million streams on just two songs, was recommended in the French Rolling Stone as well as in American blogs. This summer he plays at tastemaker festivals like Immergut, in September at the Reeperbahn Festival, and next year he will support indie dance king Roosevelt on his full European tour.
Wafting reverb tails, the casually stoic drums – Byrd’s music sounds like Guadagigno’s “Call me by your name,” at times reminiscents of Tom Petty, Sufjan Stevens, or Kurt Vile, while the guitars first sound like Sonic Youth and then fade away like The War on Drugs. In the title single, “Orion” M.Byrd remembers a long-time-nameless turtle that lived with his family for years – without anyone being bothered by the fact that it has no name. In the end, it is named Orion. “It’s living in the past, you held me in your hands and never called me Orion”. In the accompanying video, director Constantin Timm accompanies the artist and turtle on a journey through the desert.
M.Byrd’s timeless songs shine with a feeling of strength and self-understanding that can be rarely found at the beginning of a young musician’s career – they transport the listener to the American west coast, emitting a sense of melancholic future and euphoric youth, urging them to trust their intuition and find their inner-self. “I spent many years soaking up personal and musical experiences and I’ve been learning a lot in different studios and touring situations. The music I make is thus inspired by being on the road, moving on, and allowing growth to happen. I realized that the experiences on my path might also inspire other people and I hope that this will continue in the future with the songs we release.”
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Image: M Byrd by Constantin Timm
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