Daniel Clifford is Amateur Ornithologist, and he makes the kind of indie-pop that’ll make you fall in love with indie-pop all over again.

Amateur Ornithologist banged out his ‘Birdwatching’ album last year and very excellent it was too; a release packed with swoony tunes. I like the fact that this talented fella knows how to pen sweet stuff while never sliding into anything resembling twee. And on tracks such as ‘The Murmuration’, AO manages to imbue songs with a truly soaring vibe (the melody here mirrors an actual murmuration of starlings with its swoops and whirls). He describes his latest single ‘Hermit’ (released through Harbourmaster Recordings) as “150 seconds of foot-tapping alt-pop, doo-wop backing vocals and anxious lyrics.” He’s not wrong. It’s a song that has an undeniably skew-whiff charm; a bent out of shape indie-bopper that grabs you (gently) by the lapels from the get-go and never lets up. He plans to release more stuff over the coming months, and that’s got to be good news for everybody. DP

Seek: 

linktr.ee/amateurornithologist