Towa Bird Rocks On with Latest Single ‘Rat Race’
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At this year’s All Points East – amidst a tin-can sound system and a relegated smaller stage in the shadow of the music festival’s main East Stage – Towa Bird was a f*****g banshee. Give the queer British-Filipino musician a guitar and a mic, and she and her band returned a cyclonic 40-minute set that dwarfed both the stage size and dynamics bestowed upon them. Not that the crowd, which stretched far across to the neighbouring food stalls and branded stunts, cared much. They repeated refrains in breakout hits ‘Drain Me!’ and ‘B.I.L.L.S.’ – middle fingers included from me and everyone else – back to Bird. She struts like the Gen Z punk soul sister of Joan Jett and Jet’s Nic Cester.
All this was on the back of ‘American Hero’. This excellent debut album has propelled the Goldsmiths dropout to critical acclaim. Not only that but importantly for an artist that thrives live – to some landmark gigs. Aside from festival appearances and sold-out headline shows, Bird will be supporting Billie Eilish on seven nights of the upcoming ‘Hit Me Hard or Soft: The Tour‘.
Apt time then for Bird’s latest single ‘Rat Race’. Again, it’s another hard-hitting pop-rock track that interweaves some familiar patterns from her latest LP. These would be anti-capitalistic messaging about the futility of toiling in the system, along with catchy hook lines like, ‘Oh, got me chasing my tail,’ that are designed to be shouted in sweaty unison. She twangs and throttles through her riffs and snarls at breakneck speed. This culminates in a syncopated “Running, I’m running” bridge that reflects the way Bird is moving through the music scene right now. How is she moving? That would be swift, with a whole lot of pedal to the metal.
Towa Bird is on Instagram, X, and TikTok. Read more news pieces here and listen to the song below.
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