Wallis Bird – returns with the new single ‘And So Turns The Wheel’

‘And So Turns The Wheel’ is a timeless folk ballad instilled with Bird’s signature warmth. The song rises with a gentle, celestial swell and an overarching message of love beyond life’s measure. 

Arising from solemn roots, ‘And So Turns The Wheel’ hears her sing, “My tears are for you / I spend them with pride,” and what unfolds across six or more minutes is a patiently, proudly transformative anthem that confronts an incredibly delicate and personal subject: the sudden death of a best friend. 

“I thought we had more time,” Bird sings, declaring that “Life goes on / But it was better with you”. They’re lines indicative of both the record’s sentiments and the harmony holding them together.

The single, produced by Bird, is an indicator of the direction fans can expect to hear across the Berlin-based artist’s new work. Songs about “personal and collective grief”, according to Bird, that are nonetheless, characterised by an indefatigable optimism that, over a career that’s won her multiple awards in both her native and adopted homelands, has always been central to her work. 

“Death is a dangerous subject to write about,” she admits, typically self-aware, “but it’s the most hypnotic, secret reflection of life. I found myself staring straight into a portal, compulsively documenting, not so much looking for answers as just looking. I felt simultaneously heartbroken and opened.” 

Irish born and Berlin based, Wallis Bird has released eight albums since 2007, for which she’s won two Meteor Awards, Ireland’s annual music prize – mostly recently for Best Female Artist – and a prestigious 2017 German ‘Music Autoren Preis’ (Music Author Prize), not to mention two further nominations for the Choice Music Prize, Ireland’s equivalent to Britain’s Mercury Prize. In addition, she’s racked up over a thousand shows during the past decade, earning a reputation worldwide for her legendarily passionate, energetic and good-humoured concerts. Wallis has also previously found champions in American artist Amanda Palmer and UK artist Jacob Collier, and the Irish Times once noted that Bird’s irrepressible trademark energy on stage could “kickstart an entire economy”.

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