Metal Bird is far and away Adams’s most accomplished work to date. The fact it was very nearly lost in time only adds to the heartbreak and loss that is imbibed into every moment. Here's to second chances. 

Originally released just over a year ago, Metal Bird received little fanfare. However, the story goes that a chance listen by UK label Basin Rock was met with such enthusiasm it prompted a full remaster and re-release of Eve Adams third album. And this time it appears Metal Bird is finally getting the acclaim that it deserves. 

California-born Eve Adams has never been shy of wearing her heart on her sleeve. 2017s In Hell and 2020s Candy Coloured Doom are both open wounds that are as personal and as discontented as their titles suggest.  

Metal Bird is no exception. Only this time a luscious veneer of film noir jazz, courtesy of producer Bryce Cloghesy of Military Genius fame, elevates the album far beyond its predecessor’s stripped-back home demo feel.  

Album opener Blues Looks The Same begins proceedings. Shimmering slide guitars gently rise out of the gloaming as Adams sings of chasing memories that can never be caught. “They just don’t tell you and they should, it’s a shame. Our blues are all coming and they all look the same”. It's the perfect mood-setter. The bar-room clouds thicken as second track You’re Not Wrong comes into focus. This time Adams duets with woozy trumpets that evoke Bon Iver’s early days, back when he was still hiding in that cabin in the wilderness. Metal Bird feels equally intimate.  

Butterflies is built around a simple music box melody and like most songs on the album is pinned together by an ever-reliable rhythm section that never threatens to intrude upon Adams’s Hollywood siren’esque vocals. 

A Walk In The Park ups the tempo a little before the album’s namesake returns us to more familiar territory. Like Butterflies before it, Metal Bird also hinges on a circular waltz melody, this time punctuated by an echo-drenched guitar. 

“You scream underwater and wake without the air, well what does it even matter anymore to me?” Adams sings on album highlight Dying Light. Lyrically Adams is on form throughout. Metal Bird is infused with poetic lamentations and broken-hearted soliloquies. “One more dreamer, stuck inside a dream” she repeats as both the song and hopes of a happy ending begin to fade. 

The music remains deft and the mood forlorn on following track Woman On Your Mind. A song that almost passes by unnoticed at first but soon becomes unskippable after repeated listens. La Ronde continues to demonstrate Adams’s ability to make her music attain an almost cinematic quality whilst using minimal instrumentation. 

Prisoner begins with nearly two minutes of tortured strings slowly being dragged into earshot before Adams starts singing and brings meaning to the haunting soundscape. The song is brimming with tension and constantly threatens to break off the shackles but thankfully it remains faithful to itself. It’s the most experimental song on the album and Metal Bird is all the better for it. Album closer My Only Dream concludes things nicely with Adams taking possession of what little she has, “It’s my only dream. And it's everything!” she sings defiantly. It almost sounds hopeful, a glimmer of light in the darkness. 

Metal Bird is far and away Adams’s most accomplished work to date. The fact it was very nearly lost in time only adds to the heartbreak and loss that is imbibed into every moment. Here's to second chances.