Jealous Of The Birds Returns Shares 'Beginner's Luck' From 'Hinterland'

Jealous of the Birds - the acclaimed moniker of Northern Ireland-based singer-songwriter Naomi Hamilton - shares the irresistible indie pop track "Beginner's Luck" from her eagerly awaited new album, Hinterland, due via Canvasback/Atlantic/Parlophone on Friday, May 19 (pre-orders available HERE).

Balancing whimsy and weight, the new song is emblematic of the dynamism of Hinterland, which Hamilton created with producer, engineer, and mix engineer Declan Legge.

"It made sense to me to begin the record from a place of humility and acknowledge the extent to which I'm never done learning. The older I get, the more I discover that the key to learning is to open oneself to being teachable. The song's structure is set around archetypal figures from which one might construct a perspective of the world. There's value in that which I wanted to dedicate a song to and 'Beginner's Luck' is what came of it." - Naomi Hamilton

Jealous of the Birds will mark the arrival of Hinterland with a wide-ranging live schedule, beginning with a series of intimate performances across Ireland and the UK. North American dates will be announced soon. For updates and more, please visit https://www.jealousofthebirdsmusic.com/tour/

JEALOUS OF THE BIRDS TOUR 2023

JUNE

6 - Cork, Ireland - Wavelength

7 - Limerick, Ireland - Kasbah

8 - Galway, Ireland - Roisin Dubh

13 - London, UK - The Social

15 - Belfast, Northern Ireland - Ulster Sports Club

JULY 15

15 - Dublin, Ireland - Iveagh Gardens

Hailed by NPR for her "remarkable gift for converting spare and common ingredients (voice, acoustic guitar, a bit of whistling) into a sound that's dense, gently hypnotic and utterly her own," Naomi Hamilton has recorded and toured as Jealous of the Birds since 2015, earning worldwide critical applause for her intimate lyricism and a dynamic musical approach.

Born in Portadown in County Armagh but now based in Belfast, Hamilton first lifted the curtain on Jealous of the Birds' intensely introspective songcraft with 2015's Capricorn EP, followed the next year by her acclaimed full-length independent debut, Parma Violets.

The album "shatters any preconceived notions," raved The Irish Times. "Parma Violets progresses from whimsical folk-pop to atmospheric indie post-punk of real substance...Hamilton rises to the occasion time and time again."

2020's Peninsula saw Hamilton expanding the scope of her sound and vision on songs like "Young Neanderthal," "Something Holy," and the anthemic, optimistic "Pendulum," their themes enhanced by enveloping atmospherics and dynamic arrangements which veer from stripped-down acoustic minimalism to string-drenched pop and electrifying indie rock.

A true polymath - poet and painter, songwriter, and musician - Hamilton spent lockdown working on an array of projects, including the publication of Heat of the Sun, a chapbook of forty poems and photographic work captured on a manual Canon 35mm camera. New music soon emerged, inspired in part by the untamed figure of Walt Whitman, American sensualist, vagabond and laureate of the wild spaces.

Jealous of the Birds set to recording Hinterland at studios in Northern Ireland including Newry's Big Space Studios and Analogue Catalogue Vintage Recording Studio. Hamilton was joined by longtime collaborator Declan Legge and JOTB core players including Peter Close (bass), Jamie Hewitt (drums), Ciaran Coyle (guitar) and Matt Evans (piano, synths), and cellist Laura McFadden, the latter of whom adds evocative melancholy to the album standout, "Quiet Blues."

"Hinterland' is an old Germanic word dating back to the 19th Century that literally translates to 'behind land,'" says Hamilton. "It conjures up images of remote tundras and desolate places beyond the boundaries of what is known and explored. The past two or three years of pandemic and unrest have occupied a very liminal space for me personally, but also for the industry I work in, and more significantly for our collective humanity and planet. We are grappling with unknowns and trying to attribute meaning and action as best we can.

"This record is one person weighing up the ways in which we're isolated from one another, with the ways we are deeply connected in perilous times. How we hold the capacity not only to be repelled by the chaos of civilization towards the peace of a hinterland, but also to be drawn out of the remoteness of our mental landscapes toward a renewed sense of belonging."

Photo Credit: Naomi Hamilton

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