"Different Kinds of Light" is the second album by 23-year-old English singer songwriter Jade Bird. This is the follow up to 2019's self-titled album where Jade Bird burst on to the scene. In fact, I liked the album so much it was well inside my top 10 albums of 2019. It was a diverse album and thing I particularly loved about it was that edgy/punky type songs which I thought made her stand out with the likes of "Uh huh" and "Love has all been done before".
In the run up to this release Jade released 5 singles which to be fair were decent, but they did lack that punchiness and attitude of the songs which shot her to fame. Perhaps it could be seen as more mature approach while also trying to hone in on her sound she wants to be known for. The second album is always a challenge for artists. Particularly when you're like Jade and had such a successful debut. Do you follow the same formulas which made you successful or do you try to create something new and different? Well as I say the attitude seems to have gone but I don't feel she has made a complete depart of the other songs from her self-titled album.
I would say most of the album is full of warm hearted upbeat chirpy numbers which suit Jade's delightful vocals. Not only that but the album cover and title of the album are also appropriate in continuing the warm theme showing Jade with a near eclipse of the sun. But also, the title "Different Kinds of light" giving off the variations of warmness reflected through the various tracks on the album. I like how the first track "DKOL" acts as an intro to the album. It is short at 1 minute but it's a proper introduction before getting into the meatier songs.
But although this album does have many highlights, I do find it a hard album to really get to grips with and keep my attention for the duration. It is 15 tracks long sitting at 42 minutes run time. I think it could have been trimmed a bit down to say 30 minutes. As I do think there is some excess tracks on here which don't quite meet the cut. Also, the track order can be a bit all over the place at times for example probably the most edgy song on the album "Candidate" followed by the gentlest song on the album "Red White and Blue". It just feels too big a drop in pace which is not good for the flow of the album. Then finishing with one of the standout singles on the album "Head start" also feels an odd choice. These types of tracks should, in my opinion, be front loaded on to the album to give the album momentum and engage the listener to keep listening. Then the last track should either be a quieter outro to the album or go out with a climax. "Head start" does nothing but give you an end you really don't expect.
Overall, I would say this is a decent album which is not quite up to Jade's debut effort. But it is still clear she is very talented. Some of the decisions around track order and album length are questionable but I have a feeling the record company and producers may have more of a say in that, than Jade. There is still a lot of good stuff on here though worth investigating. It will be interesting to hear what’s next for Jade in terms of what direction she takes in her music. I am hoping for a return to that attitude esque side of her that shot her to fame, but who knows.
