On “Firebird”, the London-stationed producer and multi-instrumentalist Common Saints (Charlie J Perry to his family and friends) digs deep into an AM radio space, sliding out a cottony soft, yacht-rock groove that feels teleported straight from the ‘70s. It unspools steady and exact with drums clamped tight, bass notes smoothing the edges, and electric guitar lines stretching and shining clean like old chrome under a low sun. It’s almost too pretty for the things it’s trying to say.
The song's easy glide might fool you if you let it. That calmness—pleasant, polished, a little sepia-toned—flows beneath lyrics that are too knotted to be mistaken for cosplay nostalgia. “Don’t you give in to the games they play/They bend minds of all, but never change their ways.” Nobody’s coming to save us, and Saints sings like that’s been obvious longer than anyone wants to admit. And that hook that asks "How are we gonna turn it around?" reads like a warning for the masses dressed in sun-drenched harmonies. When the full band drops out near the end, leaving just an acoustic strum and the wear in Common Saint’s voice, the room suddenly feels smaller.
“Firebird” might not be a protest anthem in the traditional sense, but it sits with you in that same way. A classic pickup truck dressed in a yacht rock paint job, offering a ride for anyone still trying to make sense of the mess.
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