Charlie Parker – Not The Bird EP (EP Review)

The vibrant and powerful edge to the strings lets Charlie Parker shine.

Charlie Parker is a singer‑songwriter from Whittlesey, England, who’s back with a new EP, Not The Bird. This new EP marks the start of Parker’s first release—but maybe not the last—in 2025. Not The Bird consists of four tracks, clocking in at slightly under 20 minutes.

This is my first acquaintance with Parker as an artist, which makes it even more exciting—and uncertain.

So, without further ado, let’s take a look at what the artist has prepared for us.

While the cover might hint at a certain melancholy and somber folk sound, Parker denies it with the first track, “The Witch,” which is direct, upbeat, and dynamic. It is certainly not Parker’s style to showcase emotions in a slow‑paced style, as we see from the punchy intro track. Rhythmic drums feel so nice in complementing the artist’s emotional and impactful delivery. The track feels extremely free‑flowing in its execution and approach.

However, does this pattern recur throughout the EP?

Slightly. The next track, “Endeavour,” feels much more haunting yet still dynamic and punchy in its delivery. My favorite part of the track is how the artist builds up the chorus, and then cinematically jumps into the emotional release with lines like:
“Demons are knocking at your door.”
“Demons are ready to shake your core.”

The elegant, melodically charged voice puts the track in that impactful range that doesn’t feel off‑beat or uneven. Instead, I really dig how he uses the structure of tension and release, which provides this driving rhythm to the track.

Throughout this EP, it is hard not to mention how textural and crisp the instruments sound. Particularly those guitar chords on tracks like “Fire Reign On Me,” which feel so palpable and punchy. While the songs seem to follow a similar pattern and adjacent structure, this minimalism doesn’t hurt the artist per se.

Not The Bird could easily get into the emotional side of the topic while being extremely smooth and seismic with it. The way every single build‑up is implemented is simply world‑class song structuring that is defined and physical.

The artist also kind of focuses mostly on organic and natural instrumentation in his songwriting. They blend those organic tones that feel slightly outdated, yet seem to work out. The subtle layers of similarity from song to song become more and more prominent from track to track—but is this a weakness? That depends on what you’re looking for.

If you are looking for a cohesive record that likes to put the dynamic and mixes some styles of pop‑rock, alternative, with a sprinkle of blues, you would enjoy it. However, if you expect the craziness and madness happening within a record, this might not be for you.

What remains undeniable is the production and the ease of the structure throughout the record. Its strong moments are objectively strong—like the crescendo on “Figure It Out” that symbolizes a potent end to the record and serves as a memorable ending—while the weaker parts might just depend more on one’s music taste; if you are not into British blues, you might find it a bit too similar.

Score/Good: Charlie Parker slides on this new EP. His delivery is strong, and he manages to successfully convey everything throughout this record in a way that is impactful, memorable, and driving.

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