It’s about trying to abandon demons, whilst not losing edge, says Stephen. Babybird’s fifth studio album was released on March 1st 2010 on Unison Music.

 Tracks

01. Like Them (4.10)
02. Drug Time (3.55)
03. Failed Suicide Club (3.42)
04. Unloveable (4.19)
05. Send Me Back My Dreams (2.35)
06. For The Rest Of Our Lives (3.40)
07. Bastard (3.31)
08. Roadside Girl (4.21)
09. Black Flowers (3.38)
10. Not Good Enough (4.11)
11. On The Backseat Of Your Car (5.31)

Bonus tracks (iTunes Europe download only)

12. The Wrong Song (3.54)
13. Isn’t Love Wonderful (4.07)

Unreleased demo
Drink You Back

Label: Unison Music Group
Distribution: Essential Music/Cinram Logistics
EAN: 0898336001057

Promo versions
Double CD-R promo: Double CD-R bonus disc which includes all album tracks as instrumental versions (published by Chrysalis Music Group USA). See image below.

Credits

Bass: Bruce Witkin
Drums: Adam Marcello (tracks: 4, 8, 10, 11) , Bruce Witkin (tracks: 6) , David Goodstein (tracks: 7) & Rob Klonel (tracks: 1, 2, 3, 7)
Guitar: Bruce Witkin , Johnny Depp (tracks: 4) & Stephen Jones
Horns: Lee Thornburg (tracks: 11)
Keyboards: Bruce Witkin & Stephen Jones
Mastered By: Stephen Marcussen
Mixed By: Bruce Witkin & Ryan Dorn
Producers: Bruce Witkin & Ryan Dorn
Recorded by: Bruce Witkin & Ryan Dorn
Written by: Stephen Jones

“I made it in LA and it was kind of paid for by Johnny Depp – it’s the best production of any album I’ve ever had. It’s got quite an American feel to some of the songs which I didn’t plan. I hope every song I write is different but you can’t change your voice that much so that always brands it as a Babybird record”

Stephen Jones, 25 February 2010, islingtontribune.com

Sounds and interviews

Babybird - Black Flowers (Jonathan Ross 6. march 2010) [ 2:54 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Stephen Jones interivew (Becky Want, BBC Manchester 2. March 2010 [ 3:59 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Stephen Jones interivew (Gideon Coe BBC6 5. March 2010) [ 6:55 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Stephen Jones interivew (Jonathan Ross BBC2 6. March 2010( [ 10:51 ] Play Now | Play in Popup

Stephen Jones interivew (Radion Teesdale 3. March 2010 Play Now | Play in Popup

Stephen Jones interivew (Shell Zenner/Salford City Radio 18. March) Play Now | Play in Popup

Release trivia

• Released on March 1st 2010
• The album will be preceded by the single Unloveable on February 15th
• First mentioned in an interview with bad-pages.dk in november 2008: Q: What projects are you working on right now? A: An album in L.A. with a friend of Johnny Depp. This quote later turned into news stories on Clash Music and NME.com.
• This is Stephen’s first album on Unison Music, a label owned and operated by Bruce Witkin and Ryan Dorn. The label was set up in 2006.
• Ex-maniac is Unison Music’s first album released in the UK
• The album is produced by Bruce Witkin. He has toured with Adam Ant and recorded L.A. Guns… Witkin also played guitar on Babybird’s four date tour in the UK in November 2009.
• Johnny Depp directed the Unloveable promo video and plays guitar on the song. Stephen: “I’ve met him [Johnny] over the years and he introduced me to Bruce Witkin, his friend he used to be in a band with when they were 17 or 18. Music’s Johnny’s first love.”
• Johnny Depp: EX-MANIAC will be the album of the year. “He’s a national treasure, if you’re British. For everyone else, he’s a diamond waiting to be found. Lyrically, he’s black as night, brilliant and sharp as a razor.”
• Stephen created, conceived, filmed, edited and presented a 7 minute video clip called Ex-Maniac prior to the album release. The clip was removed from the official site a few weeks later (but shamelessly ripped and uploaded to YouTube by bad-pages.dk)
• The online community babybirdmusic.me was set up and launched by Unison Music in October 2009.
• Like Them was make available at babybirdmusic.me as an exclusive download in October 2009.
• Cover art started appearing online in late October 2009.
• Tracklist was posted on Wikipedia on november 15th, 2009
• Babybird’s short UK tour in november 2009 featured new song Black Flowers, Failed Suicide Club, Like Them, Drugtime, (Handsome) Bastard and Unloveable in the setlist.
• Promos of Unloveable and Ex-Maniac started circulating in January 2010
• The song ‘Isn’t Love Wonderful’ dropped from the final tracklist before release. Becomes a B-sides to Unloveable instead.
• 12. Feb 2010: Full album previewed on Yahoo Music.
• 15. Feb 2010: Available on US iTunes now.
• Entered UK charts at Number 167.

The ad Pages news history

15.02.2010: Preview Ex-Maniac NOW
03.02.2010: “Johnny Depp has been a Babybird lifesaver”
05.12.2009: Babybird’s 2010 tour is flying!
07.11.2009: Depp won the Ex-maniac over
30.09.2009: New album is called Ex-Maniac
26.09.2009: Johnny Depp to direct the new Babybird vid?
01.08.2009: Babybird tours UK in November 2009

By the Poolside

On october 2nd, 2010, Babybird performed songs from Ex-Maniac in Unison Music’s laid back live streaming jam session called By the Poolside.

Like Them

I will kill you said the five-year-old
as he left his knives at the school gates
So I took her home, locked all the doors
I’ll teach you here about boys like that

Please don’t go and turn out like them
Please don’t go and grow up like that

I could could walk to school all on my own
No tag in my leg, no cell phone
I was not afraid
I was weaponless, but now I keep a knife just in case

Please don’t go and turn out like that
Please don’t go and turn out like that
Please don’t go and turn out like that

I can’t take photographs, you make me guilty
Watching my kids in the swimming pool
I will kill you if you touch them
I don’t care if it’s your parent’s fault
I’m sick of being polite, all the time
Watching my p’s and q’s, all the time
I’m sick of being polite….

Please don’t go and turn out like that
Please don’t go and turn out like that
Please don’t go and turn out like that
Please don’t go and turn out like that

I will love you despite everything
Make you feel safe at any cost
I will drag you back from the building edge
Give you back what you have lost
Give you back what you have lost
Make you safe any cost
Give you back what you have lost

Failed Suicide Club

Step one, don’t kill yourself
Step two, don’t do yourself in
Step three, don’t play with knives
Step four, don’t trust anyone

When you’re kicked around and knocked down
And you’ve got nothing left to give
And you can’t breathe, and you can’t hear yourself think
Climb up on your box, take the rope down from the beam
Baby wake up, it’s not a dream

Yes you’ve made it, you’re here
At the failed suicide club
Sitting in a circle, crying

Step five, stay alive
Step six, get a quick fix
Step seven, don’t go to heaven
Step eight, just wait

When you’re put down like a little kid
And you’ve got nowhere to live
And you wanna go, but your feet stick to the floor
Come back from the edge, put your shoes back on
Baby come here, it’s our song

Yes you’ve made it, you’re here
At the failed suicide club
Sitting in a circle, smiling

Yes you’ve made it, you’re here
At the failed suicide club
Sitting in a circle, smiling

Step nine, put the bomb down
Step ten, put your clothes on
Step eleven, let’s find love
Step twelve…at the club

Yes you’ve made it, you’re here
At the failed suicide club
Sitting in a circle, smiling

Unloveable

I’ve tried
And you’ve tried
You’ve cried
And I’ve cried
I’ve lied
And you’ve lied
Together we’ve died
But sometimes
Sometimes it gotta stop

I’m cold when you’re cold
I’m warm when you’re warm
We were friends
We’re still friends
That’s all
That’s all
That’s all

You can’t love me
I’m unloveable
But baby you could try
It’s all good, it’s not bad
It’s all smiles, it’s not sad
There’s just time to stop love
Love’s gone, move on
Life’s long

You can’t love me
I’m unloveable
But baby you could try
Sha la
Sha la la la la la la la
Sha la la
Sha la

Love’s so sweet it suffocates us
Like a sickly kindly gag
And we’re floating down the sewer pipe
Like kittens in a bag
And the mirror screams to both of us
That we are not alone
Then the metaphors explode
And suddenly we’re home

You can’t love me
I’m unloveable
But baby you could try
I can’t love you
You’re so loveable
But baby let me try

You can’t love me
I’m unloveable
But baby you could try
I can’t love you
You’re so loveable
But baby let me try

Bastard

You can love me if you want to
But it’s best if you don’t
You can believe me, you can deceive me
But it’s best if you don’t

You could date me, you could hate me
But it’s best if you don’t
We could have kids, we could grow old
But it’s best if we don’t

I’m untouchable, yes I am
But if you wanna touch me, you can
I’m a bastard, you know that I am
But that’s just what you like in a man

You can hold me, you can scold me
But it’s best if you don’t
You could tease me, you could please me
But it’s best if you don’t

I’m untouchable, yes I am
But if you wanna touch me, you can
I’m a bastard, you know that I am
I should be locked up for who I am

I’m unloveable, yes I am
But if you want to love me, you can
I’ve got straight white teeth and a tan
But that’s just what you like in a man

Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la

You could trust me, you could bust me
But it’s best if you don’t
It would kill me if you left me
But I don’t think you will

I’m untouchable, yes I am
But if you want to touch me, you can
I’m a bastard, you know that I am
But that’s just what you like in a man

I’m unloveable, yes I am
But if you want to love me, you can
I’ve got straight white teeth and a tan
But that’s just what you like in a man

Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la
Sha la la, sha la la

Roadside Girl

I found you
by the roadside
Hangin’ from
a burning tree
Cut you down
and caught you
My pretty girl
you’re free

My pretty girl
she’s lovely
My pretty girl
and me
My pretty girl
she’s lovely
My pretty girl
and me

She found me
she found me
Broken legs
and bruised
She picked me up
and dragged me
Ugly boy
and pretty girl

Without you
I’m nothing
I’m no one
With you
I’m something
I’m someone.
With love
We’re everything
We’re everyone
Pretty girl
without you
There’s no one

We’re free
To be
Just you
and me
You and me

We could have
helped ourselves
So we ran away
and got lost
‘Till the little things
suffucated the big things
And we fell off the map

Without you
I’m nothing
I’m no one
With you
I’m something
I’m someone
With love
We’re everything
We’re everyone
Pretty girl
without you
There’s no one

With you
I’m nowhere
I’m no place
With you
I’m somewhere
I’m something
And without you
I’m nothing
I’m empty
Pretty girl
With you I’m me

We’re free
To be
Just you

Black Flowers

Sometimes my heart stops
And I can’t see you through the teardrops
You hold me like a sister holds a brother
Just a little sad that we feel that way

Somewhere under your skin
Someplace no one can break in
Somewhere I just can’t get to
Something that is just for you

We’re black flowers, you and me
We never grew up, successfully
Felt like we hung out all day in a noose
Waiting for some dream to cut us loose

Somewhere under your skin
Someplace no one can break in
Somewhere I just can’t get to
Something that is just for you

Somewhere dark inside my heart
Someplace no one put a light
Somewhere you could start a fire
Have sunshine through the night

 

Press

• http://www.islingtontribune.com/reviews/music/2010/feb/rock-and-pop-interview-babybird-frontman-stephen-jones
• http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2009/oct/02/johnny-depp-babybird
• http://www.nme.com/news/baby-bird/47593
• http://www.monstersandcritics.com/people/news/article_1508159.php/Babybird-and-Johnny-Depp-continue-collaboration
• http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/music/Coming-home-to-roost-.5802554.jp
• http://www.thestar.co.uk/music/Getting-all-Depp-and-meaningful.5799879.jp?articlepage=1
• http://www.pr-inside.com/depp-gives-singer-songwriter-babybird-a-r1617681.htm