Style: Art rock, progressive pop, synth prog, djent (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: The Pineapple Thief, poppy Steven Wilson, new VOLA, Bent Knee
Country: UK
Release date: 26 June 2026

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I have never built a house because I’m simply not as ruggedly good-looking or resourceful as Noah. No, not the biblical arc-builder, I’m talking about the Ryan Gosling character in the iconic noughties romantic film The Notebook, in which Noah (Gosling) falls in love with Allie (Rachel McAdams) and renovates a dream home for them to share. But using the imaginative power of metaphor, I can see how building a house might be like writing a song, something I have done, although you wouldn’t want to hear it or live in it. You start off with a foundation, a central melody or a base rhythm, upon which you can start to hang a compositional frame. With the bare-bones structure erected, you can begin to brick up the walls with layers of instrumentation, and ultimately decorate the inside with lyrics, musical accoutrements, maybe even add an extension or annex (very popular among progerty developers). 

Seven years after dropping their first EP, The River, Exploring Birdsong have assembled a whole cul-de-sac in the form of their long-awaited debut album Every House We Built. The Liverpudlian three-piece have erected a sound composed of piano/synths, drums, and bass—no guitar—and lead singer Lynsey Ward’s melodic pop voice atop the hutment. From a more stripped back sound on The River, the band slapped on some synth mortar and strengthened the walls with a more durable rhythm section on follow-up Dancing in the Face of Danger. What renovations have taken place since, and will Every House We Built be a case of rustic charm or urban sprawl? 

“Archipelago” opens the album in style, Ward belting out with her usual delicate force and providing piano while restrained electronic percussion waits for the band to break out where synths can glimmer and… I’m sorry, is that a djent riff? Somebody call the HOA! Every House We Built is stylistically cemented in synth-pop influences, art rock excursions, and some unexpected heavier moments. “Romanticise” explores a more synthwave aesthetic; “Spy in the House of Love” leans firmly into pop territory; and several songs add some classical architecture with an elevated string presence. 

On the other hand, there’s the djent. Sometimes bassist Johnny Knight’s heavier intrusions are executed artfully: “42” sees him balancing a clean-toned funky verse rhythm with distorted djenty accents to punctuate the ends of phrases, and the lockstep groove he and drummer Matt Harrison cook up to undergird the myriad layers of the synth-stacked chorus works surprisingly well. On the other hand, moments like the mid-section of “Romanticise”, where an otherwise effortless mid-tempo prog-pop bop halts in order to insert an incongruous djent breakdown, are as welcome as the pneumatic drill starting up on the new-build next door. Then again, at least these moments stand out, even if it’s not all for the right reasons. Certain tracks—“Footprints” and “I_You” spring to mind, albeit not without effort—are perfectly serviceable prog pop anthems with a tendency to enter one ear and exit the other. While Ward’s vocals are the central pillars holding up the edifice, sometimes her melodies can be a little too samey, like a housing estate based on a single blueprint.

Fortunately, in the latter reaches of Every House We Built, Exploring Birdsong dance a little more daringly with danger. “The Warning” is perhaps the proggiest track, a slow build-up stacking to a well-earned hook with a gorgeous strings motif, huge swells of synth over a tight rhythmic syncopation, and Ward giving it her all. And the hits keep coming: “Cartography” is stripped back featuring some beautifully intricate string work backing just Ward and her keys as she explores some intriguingly unusual vocal melodies; and the title track features an urgent synth pulse and a logical layering of elements as the song builds inexorably to its explosive climax. Closing epic “Meadowlands” goes for some Bruce Hornsby-ish keys, and again sees Knight deftly balancing djent intent with the needs of the song, a funky groove to hang those grandiloquent synth layers on. 

Exploring Birdsong have taken their time with these houses, but now they’re on the market, what can we say for this new neighbourhood of music? Some strong foundations and impressive wainscotting sees many grand residences sitting alongside other abodes that can seem a little left-behind by comparison, but a developer could easily do something with the drabber entries on the record. Potential buyers should, however, be aware of the seismic activity on the street of late—a fracking project down the road is using low thrumming djent riffs to get at shale gas deposits, and the resulting quakes could crack the walls, although, for now, there have been no issues. Welcome to the Exploring Birdsong neighbourhood: it’s more affordable and better value for money than actual property in the UK.

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Recommended tracks: The Warning, Cartography, Every House We Built
You may also like: Argovia, Marjana Semkina, Dim Gray
Final verdict: 7/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: Long Branch Records

Exploring Birdsong is:
– Lynsey Ward (vocals, keyboards)
– Johnny Knight (bass)
– Matt Harrison (drums)