When I was scrolling through Facebook one day, I saw that Birdy was going to release a third album, Beautiful Lies, and she had just released its lead single, "Keeping Your Head Up." Well, being a massive fan, I was massively excited. On the first play of the song, I fell in love. It's a track about persisting through hardship, done in a more upbeat style than she had ever before. I literally started pumping my fists at the punching chorus, and I identified with the vulnerable lyrics in the verses, reminded of a recent darker period of my own fresh in my memory. It affected me so much that I was laughing and crying at the same time---not tears of sadness, but tears of joy. This was only the beginning.

Born Jasmine Lucilla Elizabeth van de Bogaerde, Birdy burst onto the music scene in 2008, a ripe twelve years of age, with her entrancing cover of Bon Iver's "Skinny Love". The key to her success was no secret; her voice, even then, naturally has an earnest urgency and emotive quality, with just the right touch of innocence. It's such a sweet voice, really, that makes me feel like home. Coupled together, this powerful combination makes me trust her completely.

Birdy 's self-titled debut was an album of stunning covers. Her sophomore release, Fire Within, offered the world's first glimpse at her original music. Both are very, very good, and "Wings" is definitely one of my favorite songs of all time. But in Beautiful Lies, a self-described coming of age album inspired by change, Birdy had a larger say in the process of creating it and is more herself than ever than before. It shows.

I just adore this album so much. It's such a jewel. The lyrics are excellent, the songs are superb and I really love the production. Birdy's voice has grown so much, becoming fuller and her range becoming wider. She sings with a new ringing confidence but still retains a subtle touch of innocence in her vocals. She hits high notes readily, like in the ethereal "Shadow" and the anthemic "Give Up", and in many background harmonies. Her voice soars and swoops over you beautifully in the haunting "Silhouette" and the brooding "Lost it All". She sings with absolute vivacity in the colorful opening track "Growing Pains" and the liberating "Lifted".

Beautiful Lies opens on "Growing Pains" with a Japanese-inspired melody that ties together the entire song, an unheard of thing for Birdy. Her words come in a few notes later, with Birdy singing in her higher register. It's such a fresh piece, so stylistically, well, cool. The lyrics speak about change and how people drift apart, and how we move forwards in life despite it all. It's a universal theme, and such a unique way to cover it.

In fact, the album is full of songs with universal themes; I can find myself in literally every single one of them. And it does so in a way without seeming insipid or generic. Birdy says she draws inspiration from the experiences of those around her. She captures them so perfectly herself, gives them a melody and new life.

There is a pleasant mixture of Birdy's signature piano ballads along with the upbeat songs. In "Deep End", Birdy pitifully despairs about the torturous slow death of a relationship and asks, "So can we just pretend/ That we're not falling into the deep end?". In "Unbroken", one of the most inspiring tracks, she gently sings with optimism about hope and recovery. The closing song on the standard edition, "Beautiful Lies", after which the album is titled, is one of the best; it speaks about doing everything you can to hold onto a moment and pretending it can last forever.

For a long time after the release, I literally could not pick a favorite song, or even narrow down a shortlist. It's that good, that consistently good. Out of all of my favorite artists and all of their albums (or even ones by artists that may not be my favorite), this is the only time this has ever happened to me. But, very recently, I decided my favorite is (probably) "Hear You Calling". It's an uptempo, Japanese-inspired song, but it's so nostalgic. To me, it embodies everything the album is about. The lyrics reflect back fondly on the good memories someone you may not see anymore. It reminds me that although things may have changed, to always treasure the past joys in your life instead of wailing that they are gone.

The album's genius lies in how the songs are so stylistically diverse, but they are all united with a feeling of underlying strength. Though not all the songs may be happy and some are utterly not, there's a subdued willpower behind them all, a determination to emerge stronger and to learn from heartbreaks. Even in "Lost It All", a poignant ballad mourning the agony of unrequited love, Birdy ends with a resigned but powerful, "A bitter heart/ You let me down/ But you'll never lose/ What you never found". In "Wild Horses", Birdy more directly choruses about finding the courage to let go. Listening to the album just puts me together, makes me feel so invigorated.

Oh my gosh, I am infinitely obsessed with Beautiful Lies. It reminds me to accept the idiosyncrasies of change—

P.S. Happy (late) birthday, Birdy!

P.P.S. It would mean the world to me if you visited Atlanta someday :)

Best Moments/Lyrics From Each Song:

Growing Pains- The layered vocals in the chorus. Also, "We've been changing into something more/ Familiar faces turning into stone/ These growing pains have made us far too strong/ We move along"

Shadow- The heavenly, post-chorus "ah". Also, "Wherever you go, I'm your shadow/ Desert to ice flow, I will follow" and I also really like "Only you ever make me scared/ 'Cause only you ever made me dare".

Keeping Your Head Up- The entire, super-uplifting chorus. Everything about it is flawless, the melody, the instrumentals, the way it never fails to make me feel better. "When you come looking for embrace, I know your soul, I'll be your home"

Deep End- "Ooh, how do we mend/ Ooh, I didn't choose to depend/ On you, it's out of our hands". The slant rhyme with ooh and you is genius.

Wild Horses- "And the phone calls/ They would last all night, they were lifeboats to me"

Lost It All- I really love how emotional she sounds and the feels I get when she sings "If this is what dreams are made of/ Then I think that I've seen enough".

Silhouette- The build up from verse to pre-chorus, and then how the chorus finally rings upon you and puts you totally inside the song. The melody is totally haunting. "Untie my silhouette, It's all that is left of a broken heart/ Leave all my regrets, to sink like shipwrecks, through oceans dark"

Lifted- The repeating "Closing, keep my eyes from closing" and the long "oh" in the chorus. "Lifted away from my demons"

Take My Heart- The resounding "eh" and strings with the drums in the chorus. "Tell me all your love lies again"

Hear You Calling- The Japanese instrumentals. "Oh my beautiful summer, how the winter makes me wonder where you've gone/ Oh my beautiful lover, we were perfect for each other, I was wrong"

Words- "You tell me with your eyes what you need"

Save Yourself- The little pulses throughout the entire song, the haunting background vocals, and how the last chorus switches to just piano. "Look at what we have become/ Empty hearts that spare no one"

Unbroken- The echoing vocal effect and layered vocals on the bridge. "Many moons will light our way/ As sure as night will follow day/ And everything you once loved remains/ Unbroken, unbroken"

Beautiful Lies- "I'm paralyzed/ I see the child in your eyes, and I'm stuck in the headlights"

Beating Heart- The repeating "ooh, ooh, ooh" throughout the song. "Lay your head on my knees/ You can confide in me"

Winter- The building up of the post-chorus/bridge is one of her best moments ever, and at the end where she changes the melody of "none of your dreams". "Black as ink, the silence is deafening"

Give Up- "All the times I won't believe/ Yours will be the voice that is on my shoulder"

Start Again- How the inspiring chorus juxtaposes the defeated vocals and builds up throughout the song. "I'm starting to wake from silent sleep/ I'm starting to break and I can grieve"