LOS ANGELES, CA- Back in 2018, I caught Jade Bird at SXSW—just her, a guitar, and a small stage packed with an audience that didn’t yet know how lucky they were. I remember calling her “a little musical treasure” at the time. It wasn’t just a throwaway phrase. It was the recognition of an artist who, even then, possessed the rare ability to make a song feel like it was meant only for you.
In the years since, I’ve watched that treasure deepen—burnished not just by success, but by experience. “Avalanche” is the kind of song that could only be written by someone who’s been through the fire and come out singing.
There’s a stillness in “Avalanche” that commands attention. It doesn’t beg. It doesn’t shout. Instead, it whispers truths so heavy they feel carved in ice. With just a few words and an aching melody, Jade Bird captures what it means to be emotionally buried—to feel the weight of your own life pressing in on all sides—and somehow still hold out hope that someone might come looking.
The song opens like the first glint of sunlight through frozen glass: “Sun shines through the ice / I realize that I’m frozen / Stuck inside this moment in time / Crystallized in the life I have chosen.” There’s no metaphor here for metaphor’s sake. Every image lands with clarity, evoking the numbness of depression, the suffocation of emotional inertia. The chorus—“I am under an avalanche / And there’s no one who can find me / So send out a search party”—isn’t dramatic. It’s devastating in its simplicity. The power of “Avalanche” comes from what’s notsaid, from the space around the lines, the breath between the pleas.
Even when she introduces light—“Though I’m buried tight / I’m still hopin’”—it’s not triumphant. It’s fragile, flickering. And that’s what makes it beautiful. The repeated “Hallelujahs” in the bridge feel less like celebration and more like ritual, like the only thing left to say when language fails.
Jade Bird has always had a sharp lyrical instinct, but this feels different. It’s spare, raw, and wholly unguarded. It’s not about crafting a clever line—it’s about surviving the moment.
In the lead-up to her third studio album Who Wants To Talk About Love?, the UK-born, LA-based artist has been unveiling a series of emotionally resonant tracks. After “Who Wants” and the stunning “Dreams”, “Avalanche” arrives as perhaps the most vulnerable of the trio. The upcoming album was executive produced by Andrew Wells (Phoebe Bridgers, Teddy Swims), with contributions from Andrew Sarlo (Bon Iver, Big Thief) and Greg Kurstin (Adele). It finds Bird reckoning with familial trauma, romantic unraveling, and a need for self-forgiveness—a cathartic body of work that leans into themes she’s carried for years.
Written during a personal low and produced by Teddy Geiger (Leon Bridges, Caroline Polachek), the track trades in ornate production for quiet urgency. Of the song, Jade Bird says:
“At my lowest, I wrote this song. It was about feeling so suffocated that you can’t see a way out or a light. In the bridge, I let that light in. I wrote this album while trying to make sense of the broken relationships in my family… It’s as much a question as an answer. Wondering if I could break the cycle while finding my own path to forgiveness—not just from my dad, but for myself.”
She’s dabbled in folk, Americana, indie rock, even pop—but it all circles back to one thing: truth. With “Avalanche,” that truth is laid bare. There’s no armor here, no posture. Just a voice, a melody, and the echo of something unshakable: the will to be found.
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Tour Dates 2025:
Thursday, June 5, 2024: London, UK @ One Ninetyfour (SOLD OUT)
June 7th, 2025: Dobbs Ferry, NY @ Sleepy Hollow Music Festival
Saturday, June 28th, 2025: Glastonbury Festival
Saturday, July 26, 2025: Henham Park, Suffolk @ Latitude Festival
Thursday, September 11th, 2025: Bourbon and Beyond Festival @ Louisville, Kentucky
*Thursday, September 18, 2025: Chicago, IL @ The Vic Theatre
*Saturday, September 20, 2025: Washington, DC @ Lincoln Theatre
*Sunday, September 21, 2025: Philadelphia, PA @ Theatre of Living Arts
*Monday, September 22, 2025: New York, NY @ Webster Hall
*Thursday, September 25, 2025: Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club
*Saturday, September 27, 2025: Detroit, MI @ Saint Andrew’s Hall
*Monday, September 29, 2025: Montreal, QC @ MTELUS
*Tuesday, September 30, 2025: Toronto, ON @ Massey Hall
* = supporting Tom Odell
