''Firebird'' is the sixth studio album by Australian-British singer-songwriter

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing car ...

, released on 24 September 2021. It is her first album to feature original material since 2009's ''

Come to Life ''Come to Life'' is the fourth studio album released by Australian singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia. It became the first album to be released on her self-funded label, Malabar Records. Songwriting Although recording for the album began in ...

'' and Imbruglia's first release with the record label

BMG Rights Management BMG Rights Management GmbH (also known simply as BMG) is an international music company based in Berlin, Germany. It combines the activities of a music publisher and a record label. BMG was founded in October 2008 after Bertelsmann sold its ...

. The album was produced in various locations during lockdowns imposed as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, and features songs co-written by

Albert Hammond Jr. Albert Hammond Jr. (''born'' Hammond III; born April 9, 1980) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his role as rhythm and lead guitarist, as well as occasional keyboard player and backing vocalist ...

Romeo Stodart The Magic Numbers are an English pop rock band consisting of two brother-and-sister pairs, from Hanwell in west London. The group was formed in 2002, releasing their debut album titled ''The Magic Numbers'' on 13 June 2005. Their follow-up alb ...

KT Tunstall Kate Victoria "KT" Tunstall (born 23 June 1975) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. She first gained attention with a 2004 live solo performance of her song " Black Horse and the Cherry Tree" on '' Later... with Jools Holland''. Th ...

Eg White Francis Anthony "Eg" White (born 22 November 1966) is a British musician, songwriter and producer. He started his career in the cowpunk band Yip Yip Coyote in the 1980s and then formed Brother Beyond with his brother, David White, in the late ...

Fiona Bevan Fiona Mackay Barclay Bevan is an English singer-songwriter from Suffolk, who currently lives in London. She is noted for co-writing the song " Little Things" with Ed Sheeran which became a number-one single in 13 countries for One Direction, an ...

, and Rachel Furner, among others. Upon announcement Imbruglia said "Making this album has been such a profound and satisfying experience. Having gone through a long period of what essentially was writer's block, it was sometimes hard to envisage getting to this place." The album's lead single "

Build It Better "Build It Better" is a song by Australian singer-songwriter Natalie Imbruglia, released on 18 June 2021 as the lead single from her sixth studio album '' Firebird''. Natalie said the song is about "surrendering to the chaos and seeing what's o ...

" was released with an accompanying music video on 18 June 2021.

Singles

The first single, "

", was released on 18 June 2021. The official video for "Build It Better" was directed by Amy Becker-Burnett, with choreography by Gregory Haney and Alex Sarmiento. "Build It Better" did not enter the Official UK Top 100 Chart, but peaked at number 67 on the Official Singles Sales Chart Top 100 and at number 66 on the Official Singles Download Chart Top 100. "Maybe It's Great" was released on 16 July 2021. In an album review ''Retro Pop'' called the song a "synth-laden '80s pop gem". "On My Way" was released as the third single on 18 August 2021. "Nothing Missing" was released as the fourth single on 28 January 2022. Its video was released on 20 February 2022. The song was co-written by

Chart performance

The week after Imbruglia won the third series of ''

The Masked Singer ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' in February 2022, ''Firebird'' re-entered the UK Official Album Downloads Chart Top 100 at number 32 on 18 February 2022.

Critical reception

Evening Standard The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format. In October 2009, after be ...

'' called the album "A perfect mix of nostalgia and rebirth, even in 2021 Imbruglia deserves her place in the spotlight." Shaad D'Souza from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' said the album "is delightfully unburdened: a carefree survey of pop and rock trends that re-establishes the fact that, at her best, Imbruglia is a canny lyricist and an incisive, whip-smart writer of hooks." ''Retro Pop'' called the first half of the album "endearing" but said "it wears thin over the course of 14 songs, with the latter portion of the record meandering without ever gaining pace." They concluded saying "There's no doubt about it, Natalie Imbruglia is a brilliant pop star, and it's unfortunate she settled on such an exhaustive release – because buried within ''Firebird'' is a stellar 10-track album." Rachel Alm from ''Riff Magazine'' said "Many of the songs on ''Firebird'' sound very close to contemporary country and could have even benefited from leaning into that a bit more." Alm added "The second half of the album is mostly piano ballads... ndfor an album that started out so upbeat, it seems to run out of steam by the end. All in all, though, it's a nice taste of '90s nostalgia by Natalie Imbruglia."

Track listing

Credits adapted from

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. Notes * signifies an additional producer.

Charts

Release history

References

{{Natalie Imbruglia 2021 albums BMG Rights Management albums Natalie Imbruglia albums