Beautiful Lies (Birdy album)

Critical reception

Beautiful Lies received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, the album received a score of 73 on Metacritic based on four reviews. Allmusic senior editor Neil Z. Yeung commended Birdy's "evolution from acoustic covers singer to confident and powerful artist" and stated, that the album "brings a depth that pulls Birdy from Ingrid Michaelson territory and into a scene occupied by Lorde, Florence, and Lana (Del Rey)." He felt that "with more life, richer texture, and an inspiring attitude, Beautiful Lies is Birdy's declaration that she is more than able to make her mark in the big leagues and join the ranks of the alternative pop pantheon". Marc Snetiker of Entertainment Weekly gave the album a B+ rating and noted that "Beautiful Lies places her square in the middle of the indie pop realm [...] Her third album is her own testament to talent and her proof that she's only dipping her toe into the tropes of her genre to spring upward from them and float onto a cloud all her own."

Dave Simpson of The Guardian called the album "certainly an adult-oriented, mainstream affair [that] has an intriguing, almost eastern feel". The Irish Times writer Tony Clayton-Lea felt the songs on Beautiful Lies showcased Birdy's songwriting abilities, with "telltale names indicating a smart artist getting to grips with the differences between inexperience and hard knocks." He added that "notwithstanding leaf or two taken from the Lorde handbook, Birdy delivers a special brand of off-centre pop music that directly reference her transition from teenager to adult." Reviewing the album for PopCrush, Matthew Scott Donnelly found "there was never any doubt that Birdy had the voice to carry a career – what's changed over the past five years is that she's now got a handful of inflections from which to choose. Airy, heavy or laser-precise, each tongue has been constructed for storytelling, making Beautiful Lies the perfect excuse for an impulse getaway to someplace you haven't been."

Track listing

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