The way her albums have all charted at perfect spots in the UK: Left of the Middle = 5 White Lilies Island = 15 Counting Down The Days = 1 Male = 20 Firebird = 10 Glorious = 5 Consistent and mathematically perfect Queen.
01 16,341 The Lathums - How Beautiful Life Can Be [14,028 physical sales] 02 10,031 Public Service Broadcasting - Bright Magic 03 9,772 Drake - Certified Lover Boy 04 6,848 Olivia Rodrigo - SOUR 05 6,354 Lil Nas X - MONTERO 06 x,xxx Doja Cat - Planet Her 07 5,055 Ed Sheeran - ÷ 08 x,xxx ABBA - Gold: Greatest Hits 09 x,xxx Dave - We're All Alone In This Together 10 4,382 Natalie Imbruglia - Firebird Her sales really collapsed on Wednesday and Thursday (definitely the time for some signed vinyls) but very happy she’s made the top 10.
Fab news! Such a good album. I'm expecting a tour announcement in a few days? I'm not sure but I think they were filming parts of the Lafayette show, so perhaps they might bring out a deluxe edition of live videos, or a digital deluxe?
How is Max 2 already? It really only feels like a few months since Natalie birthed the next great super spy into the world.
Late to the party here as work has been insane the last few weeks and had even forgotten this had been released until a couple of days ago. It’s stunningly beautiful and I am so proud of her. I didn’t expect the album to be this rich in sound and her vocals have been used to their full on here and in new and unexpected ways. I was worried it wouldn’t sound modern but whilst it does have the hallmarks of Natalie’s sound there are plenty of new flourishes that move it on and keep it fresh. White Lillies was such a pivotal album in my late teens and Firebird is really doing strange things to me. I am joyous but also very emotional listening to it as it makes me want to look to the future but also savour my past. This is how you do a comeback!
Natalie is a joy. I absolutely adore her voice. I had a dream she was invited to be special guest to open for Kylie next year for her Disco tour (this WILL happen!).
I agree: Firebird does something for me that White Lilies Island also does. I can’t put my finger on exactly what it is, and I didn’t really get it with Counting Down The Days or Come To Life (even though both have good songs).
What do we think the 3rd single should be? Based on the CD/vinyl stickers it seems likely to be Invisible Things or Nothing Missing. I think Invisible Things is the ideal as it’s instantly catchy (I love it and can imagine it doing well on radio 2). While I like Nothing Missing I’m not sure it is catchy/stand out enough for a single. Personally I’d probably take a risk and release Just Like Old Times, because for me that track is a stand out. Or even River.
Great result for her and shows how solid her fanbase is. The album is perfect, except for When You Love Too Much which kills the momentum. I've added it to the end and it makes much more sense there.
I was a big Natalie Imbruglia fan for years but I admittedly checked out after she disappeared. I never felt the need to revisit her back catalogue much over the past few years, but I decided to give Firebird a spin and I'm dragged back in 100%. What a brilliant album.
I feel like the album was tracklisted with a vinyl release at the forefront as it works better for that format than cd or streaming but I’m happy with how it is for any format to be honest.
A very astute observation, although I really love the flow of the album as-is. Any way you listen, it’s a triumph. It does strike me as a continuation of Counting Down the Days, which is my personal favorite Natalie album.
