Gina Birch – Trouble Review

Though putting the needle on the record is out of the question, we can press play on the advance stream. Trouble asks us to drop the needle, to get over the somewhat magical experience of bringing the room to life with plastic and electronics. Punk veteran Gina Birch offers her second solo album as a chance to regain control of life. We may fly off the handle at times, but in that experience is, be it an hour later or a decade on, a decision and desire to grasp at what we once had. Not living forever presents Birch with the same trouble as the rest of us. We see time as infinite. The possibility of it ending, either prematurely or long after we have accomplished all we want, should play on the mind more than it does. We would pause for thought in our actions, be it doomscrolling or deciding to spend the day watching comfortable nostalgia television. Challenge yourself as Birch has on Trouble.  

Trouble is more than just a musing on mortality, though. Birch offers plenty of instrumental scope, those refreshingly strong tones which feature a constant vocal echo. Second track Happiness feels like a chance to reflect on what satisfies us. It is different from person to person, but there is an unchanged fundamental heart to this album. We must pursue what makes us feel complete. To what extent, that much is not shared by Trouble. Birch trusts her listeners to draw the line, to accept that some avenues of life are dead ends. Tracking back and navigating forwards is what matters. Soundscape features on Causing Trouble have a catchy throughline for Birch to form this instrumental collage, which inevitably spills into the screams and cries of a mind on the brink. It is in creating that tone, though, that Birch brings out part of the charm which comes from an artist as part of the so-called old guard.

Reflection comes easy to those who have not yet hit upon longevity. It forms an honest core, a hopeful sense of the future. Compare it with Birch, whose work on Cello Song is borderline Marianne Faithfull in its delivery, but truly unique in tone. Even with the punk roots, Birch sounds keen to explore the lighter, pop-adjacent tones of indie music. Doom Monger does just that and is a likeable effort, an exploration of what new studio tricks can achieve. The same occurs with Don’t Fight Your Friends, though the seemingly plain message found in the title of the track is lost in a mess of electronics. Ambitious, but relatively unbalanced and a stark comedown from the opening songs of Trouble. Follow-up track Nothing Will Ever Change That is a far stronger example of what Birch can do with electronic excess. 

A few highlights feature throughout Trouble, a very consistent album from Birch. Its highs come early, collecting her thoughts on the music of the modern world and its impact on artists forever adapting to new sounds. Towards the end, with songs like Hey Hey, Birch becomes a more direct commentator. Not on life, not even on the themes which had dominated the earlier moments of Trouble, but in releasing grief and anger. It could not be clearer, and it could not get any better, either. A strong piece coming in the last gasps of an album which features not just a strong core, but the conviction to carry its messages of hope and change. A collection of vibrant thrills can be found on Trouble, an album which manages to make its way through that eponymous difficulty with some entertaining, honest moments.