EXPLORING BIRDSONG: Property Developments and House Viewings

After almost ten years as a band, half of which involved intensive construction work, EXPLORING BIRDSONG are finally ready to let us step into the world of their debut album, Every House We Built. This material might be the strongest they’ve had on show yet, as it keeps the core BIRDSONG sound, but exploring and developing its depths and corners - a sentiment that is also fully shared by all of the band members. Lynsey, Jonny and Matt take us through their own journey, talking about their creation process, the breadth of inspirations, what music means to them, and how deep their newly born storyline truly goes.

Every House We Built circles around relationships, whether it is within a family, between friends, or with romantic lovers. Lynsey Ward admits that prior to this moment, the band would find it simpler to write about stories that are more impersonal to them, placing themselves into distant narratives. Years and years down the line, EXPLORING BIRDSONG are now ready to dig up deeper wounds, something that they simply were not equipped to talk about before. In Lynsey’s words: “we’ve gone through everything together for a very long time now, including the subject matter that made it onto the record”. Even more, the band members feel so interconnected that they call themselves a ‘hivemind’, now being able to create anything separately as well as together. 

The first melodies from the album can be traced as far back as 2022, so best believe its brick-by-brick creation process was full of both great highs and great lows. When asked how they’re able to stay on track and not get tired of their own songs, EXPLORING BIRDSONG mentally bring us into the mixing and mastering studio. Here, the band give a lot of praise to Connor Sweeney (THEBOYSHADOW, ex-LOATHE) for helping bring these songs to life again. Although they were written with a certain framing in mind, he “reimagined them in his own way that felt intuitive and instinctual to him”, almost as if putting the cherry on top. Lynsey continues: “and they do have a sparkle to them, they do have quite a significant depth to them, and I would hope that the people listening can agree”.

It is always hard to put BIRDSONG into a neat, tidy genre-box, and this becomes even more apparent when we look at the breadth of their musical inspirations. From the legends of vocal technique like Amy Lee of EVANESCENCE to their male peers Mark Tremonti (CREED, ALTER BRIDGE) and Claudio Sanchez of COHEED AND CAMBRIA, the band does not limit themselves only to the rock and metal scene. For instance, Lynsey also gets a lot of influence from RnB, citing some of “the best singers of the world” WHITNEY HOUSTON and MARIAH CAREY. And of course, almost no conversation with her avoids a mention of KATE BUSH: “I do think she is a genius. It’s like she can see around corners; she can feel where things are headed and she has that intuition to take it there and to experiment with it, and to pioneer”.

For the not so fortunate of us who are not yet so familiar with the EXPLORING BIRDSONG catalogue, there’s still a chance to experience Every House We Built in full for the first time. When asked how they would approach the task, Lynsey shares that she prefers to immerse herself into a new album in the dark, dulling all the other senses. Matt, on the other hand, would rather be on the go, with headphones in, the music lightening his routine. Jonny lies somewhere in between, where all the greatest albums chase him around train and car journeys, being the ultimate “soundtrack to a moment”. In his opinion, “one of the great things about music is that people interpret and enjoy it in their own way. So if people can have that for us as well, it’s amazing”.

The music is actually not the only interesting part of this chapter, as the band have launched their very own Birdsong Property Development. “What’s cooler than 90’s estate agents?” - says Matt, as all three parts of the hivemind follow, in the same breath: “Nothing!” A string of accidents, the band never originally set out to write an album with the story planned out; all the houses, rooms, windows and doors just followed them around and kept creeping up in their metaphors. Now we’re at EXPLORING BIRDSONG’s first open house viewing; in other words, a special one-night album listening party. “It’s a passion project. We love property” - who doesn’t? Rocking their brand suits everywhere they go now, the band has to keep it to the theme even in the scorching UK heatwave.

Despite that, EXPLORING BIRDSONG are willing to pay the price if it means building something unique and special. “You know, we’ve done the whole thing with just standing in the warehouse. We rocked, we’ve done that,” - Matt explains - “and we wanted a bit more, because when we consume music, we want more”. The band also view their worldbuilding as a way to not only entertain the listener, but share elements of their own personalities. Both funny and serious at the same time, the inspiration here, for example, can be traced back to The Office and other sitcoms; and only by reworking their unique mosaic of influences were BIRDSONG able to present us with the album the way it stands today.

Lynsey adds that when there is more to the lore than appears on the surface, “you feel part of the gang, you feel like you are in on it with them, and it feels deliberate that you’re meant to find it”. Even though the band, admittedly, do not have every detail planned out decades in advance. Sometimes, it is the opposite - were it not for the lucky chain of events and the actress from the first music video being free on the day they were shooting the other one, the lore could have turned out entirely different. Either way, from now on, EXPLORING BIRDSONG let us take the story and run with it: “the tale is wherever you want to take it next”. Exploring Birdsong released their debut album Every House We Built on 26th June 2026. In September, they'll be embarking on a UK tour to celebrate its release.

Words: Mariia Bulkina

Photos: Luke Tatlock

With thanks to: Turn The Page and Exploring Birdsong