New Music: Leilani Patao – BIRD WHISTLE

BIRD WHISTLE is like snippets of an overheard conversation on a bus or train, a series of images and stories building to a bigger picture.

It runs with that theme in the production, lo-fi and hazy, but that doesn’t prevent the sharp observations in the lyrics, or the penetrating folkish vocals of Leilani Patao, piercing that veil of sound.

That warm delivery retelling stories of hurt and love put me in mind of Margo Price, Joni Mitchell, and Judee Sill at their most confessional. That’s rarefied company, but Leilani Patao has what it takes to pull that off.

“[BIRD WHISTLE] is about just wanting to be friends, but you can’t forget how you used to feel for someone,” says Patao.

“It’s about a bird who can’t trust the bird feeder anymore. And the sounds on this track really helped me find my style, and figure out where I wanted to take this project.”

BIRD WHISTLE features on the daisy EP, which is out on the 7th of November via Audio Antihero, with an official launch party in New York on the 8th of November. You can pick up daisy in CD format on Bandcamp. For details on the EP and party, head to Instagram.

Header photo by Shannon McMahon