The 22-year-old singer, songwriter and producer Birthh landed a cult hit with her debut track ‘Chlorine’ – WATCH HERE. An emotionally charged cocktail of ethereal beauty and unrestrained anger, the track made a huge impression with over 600,000 streams. She subsequently played shows and festivals alongside the likes of PJ Harvey, Mac DeMarco, Andrew Bird, Benjamin Clementine, Nick Murphy and Imagine Dragons.
With Birthh now preparing to launch new material ahead of her second album, she’s now giving ‘Chlorine’ its first global push as she introduces herself to international audiences. Recalling the lush melancholia of Daughter, ‘Chlorine’ possesses an elegant beauty that supports the dark imagery of Birthh’s lyrics.
“‘Chlorine’ is probably the darkest song I have ever written,” says Birthh. “I felt the need to represent a certain type of emotional suffering through things that could lead to physical pain. I believe that sometimes it is much easier for us to take certain real elements of our lives and use them to explain more philosophical concepts.”
Birthh’s expansive sound has continued to evolve since the initial release of ‘Chlorine’. Her second album is shaping up to be an intricate, consistently compelling suite of immersive alt-pop that shifts wilfully between genres. Featuring collaborators including Lucius Page (Solange, A$AP Ferg) and the Grammy-winner Robert ‘LB’ Dorsey’ (Beyoncé, The Roots) the new tracks span folk-tinged songwriting, laidback jazz grooves and glitchy electronica.
Birthh – real name Alice Bisi – was raised in Florence. When she was two her parents split up, and she’d spend the long journey to her dad’s house listening to the likes of Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and The Chieftains. She cherished the time she spent with her dad who taught her from a young age how to enjoy the little things in the music. Her dad, who himself used to be a musician, told her to focus on the guitar or piano – so she started playing music and wrote her first song at 8 years old.
Spending time between Italy and New York, her tastes split between pure pop and the soulful fusion between the electronic and the organic that was present in one of her favourite records; Corinne Bailey Rae’s 2006 self-titled debut. Despite amassing a handful of songs, Bisi kept her songwriting a secret while at school in Florence. A visit to her father, was the impetus to make her secret hobby her primary passion as her songs moved from SoundCloud to the stage.