Strange Little Birds

Composition and style

Singer Shirley Manson said, "the guiding principle was keeping it fresh, and relying on instinct both lyrically and musically"; "To me, this record, funnily enough, has the most to do with the first record than any of the previous records. It’s getting back to that beginner’s headspace." Manson described Strange Little Birds as a "romantic" record. Manson clarified later, "What I mean by romance, really, is vulnerability. I used to feel so scared, and I think that was why I was so aggressive — but I’m much more willing to admit weaknesses than I was before.” Each song, she says, addresses “different points in my life between me and a person I’ve loved. They’re hot spots in my life, when I was afraid, or vulnerable, or didn’t behave at my best.” Drummer Butch Vig said that the album is a departure for the band, darker and more "cinematic and atmospheric".

Manson's approach to lyrical subject matter came from her perception of an absence of darkness in current pop cultural trends. "I feel like the musical landscape of late has been incredibly happy and shiny and poppy. Everybody’s fronting all the time, dancing as fast as they can, smiling as hard as they can, working on their brand. Nobody ever says, ‘Actually, I’m lost and I don’t have a fucking clue what I’m doing with the rest of my life and I'm frightened.’ "There aren't really any upbeat pop songs,” says Vig. “Even "Empty", which has a big, anthemic guitar sound, has pretty dark lyrics".

Recording

Writing and recording for Strange Little Birds took over two years, beginning in early 2013. Garbage recorded over twenty tracks during the sessions. The band recorded the album in Vig's basement and at engineer Billy Bush's Red Razor Sounds studio in Los Angeles. Vig stated, "we mixed it so it’s kind of confessional, almost confrontational. On a lot of songs, Shirley’s voice sounds really loud, in your face, and really dry. There are not a lot of effects. There are some moments on the record that get really huge, but a lot of it is really intimate." Two of the songs written during the sessions, "The Chemicals" and "On Fire", were given a vinyl release on Record Store Day the previous year.

Critical reception

Strange Little Birds received generally positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 75, based on 26 reviews. Annie Zaleski of The A.V. Club wrote, "20-plus years after forming, each band member is still fired up to mine new sounds and approaches for inspiration. That willingness to be uncomfortable and look beneath the surface makes Strange Little Birds a rousing success." Rhian Daly of the NME noted that "Strange Little Birds is a record that's human to its very core, revelling in flaws and failures, but never losing hope. And in that way, it's the perfect mirror for its creators' 22-year career." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found that "the impressive thing about Strange Little Birds is how it feels simultaneously familiar and fresh, a record that echoes the past without being trapped by it." Rolling Stone's Jon Dolan commented that "singer Shirley Manson's brooding edge and producer-drummer Butch Vig's mix of sheer guitar buzz and moody industrial texture stake their claim as forebears to artists like Sky Ferreira and even Lana Del Rey." Theon Weber of Spin viewed Strange Little Birds as the band's "strongest set of songs since Version 2.0" and stated that despite not being "innovative", the album "successfully excavates old and gorgeous Garbage: digs it up, dusts it off, reassembles it, and lovingly crafts replacements, piece by vivid piece, for the strange little sounds that have rotted away."

Zoe Camp of Pitchfork dubbed the album Garbage's "strongest effort in 15 years", adding, "Despite these superficial similarities [to the band's self-titled debut album], repeat spins of Strange Little Birds ultimately belie an older, wiser reincarnation of that youthful rage, not just a cheap retrospective." Jordan Blum of PopMatters opined, "Though the LP isn't as varied or experimental as its predecessor, 2012's Not Your Kind of People, it is more cohesive and alluring, resulting in a superior collection overall and a strong addition to the Garbage catalog." Slant Magazine's Sal Cinquemani expressed that aside from "Empty" and "We Never Tell", which he characterized as "gratifying but superfluous detours into the well-trodden", Strange Little Birds "emerges as the band's most compelling, adventurous album in 15 years." Luke Winstanley of Clash praised the album as "a thrilling synthesis of the band's most endearing features; quasi metal riffing, with Shirley Manson's devilishly seductive croon and huge industrial pop hooks", concluding, "There are a few moments that feel oddly dated or too by-the-numbers, but otherwise, this is an engaging return from the gothic dance-rock four-piece." In a less enthusiastic review, Emily Mackay of The Observer called the album a "sluggish comeback" and felt that "[t]here's plenty of build [...] but little release, and a lack of those big, punchy choruses that were [the band's] strongest suit."

Commercial performance

Strange Little Birds debuted at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart with 5,293 copies sold on its first week, becoming Garbage's first studio album to miss the top 10 in the United Kingdom. It dropped out of the top 100 the following week, making it the band's lowest-charting album in the UK. In the United States, the album sold 20,000 copies to debut at number one on both the Top Rock Albums and Alternative Albums charts, and at number 14 on the Billboard 200. The album also peaked at number nine on the Australian Albums Chart, earning the band their sixth consecutive top 10 studio album in that country.

Track listing

All tracks written by Garbage.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Strange Little Birds.