Album Review: The Messenger Birds - GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM IT’S ALL A BLUR

The Messenger Birds are not here to play it safe. With their new EP, GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM IT’S ALL A BLUR, the Detroit duo delivers a loud, unfiltered statement on living in a world ruled by misinformation, online performance, and emotional fatigue. The title itself reads like a swipe at modern spectacle, but the music underneath is anything but satire. This is a serious, scorching take on disconnection and disillusionment.

Right from the opening track, 'FAKE LIVES', the tone is set. The song crawls in with uneasy ambience before slamming the listener with heavy guitar riffs and pounding drums. There is an immediate sense of urgency. The vocals cut through the chaos with lyrics that target the hollowness of digital identity; it sums up the band’s view on the curated self-image that dominates social media. The track is intense but sharp, controlled but wild. It grabs you by the collar and does not let go.

Second track 'LOST THE PLOT' throws you into the fire even harder. The tempo picks up, the riffs hit faster, and the vocals feel close to cracking. Everything about the song sounds like it is teetering on the edge, perfectly matching the subject. It captures the overwhelming feeling of information overload, where the noise is constant and focus is impossible. There are no clean moments here. It is relentless in the best way.

'BLACK HOLE LOVE' slows things down but does not ease the weight. Instead of aggression, it leans into emotional heaviness. The track feels like a love song buried under layers of fuzz and feedback. It is romantic in the most painful way. The guitars hum like static, and the vocals sound distant, as if sung from the bottom of a well. It draws on elements of post-rock and industrial, echoing the moodiness of bands like Radiohead while maintaining its bite. This is the most atmospheric track on the EP, and it's also the most haunting.

The final track, 'REPRISE', strips everything back. It is quiet, ambient, and short, acting as a kind of comedown from the chaos that came before. There are no big moments here. Instead, it feels like standing in the aftermath of an emotional storm. Faint melodies drift in and out, and the silence between them says more than any lyric could. It is a thoughtful end to an otherwise explosive record.

In just four songs, The Messenger Birds manage to capture the anxiety, noise, and numbness of life in 2025. They do not waste a second. Each track is focused, polished without being overproduced, and emotionally raw. The guitars are thick and punchy, the drums hit with real weight, and the synths add just enough unease to the background to keep you on edge.

The EP builds on the foundation laid by their earlier releases like Everything Has to Fall Apart Eventually and Tragic Comedy, but it sounds leaner and more refined. Where those albums sprawled across full tracklists, this one tightens the grip. The result is a more impactful listening experience.

Influences like Nine Inch Nails, Royal Blood, and Queens of the Stone Age are easy to hear, but The Messenger Birds have carved out their own identity. Their strength lies in their ability to merge sonic violence with emotional vulnerability. The songs are angry, yes, but they are also honest. There is no empty posturing here. Even at their most aggressive, there is always a human voice beneath the noise, trying to make sense of it all.

GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM IT’S ALL A BLUR is a compact, powerful EP that does not shy away from the ugliness of modern life. It captures the chaos without getting lost in it, and that makes it more than just noise. It is a signal worth tuning into.

Score: 8/10

 GRAMMY AWARD WINNING ALBUM IT’S ALL A BLUR was released on June 13th

Words: Kelly Gowe

Photos: The Messenger Birds