Houdei, Biita: This Bed Was Made For Me (Vinyl LP)

This Bed Was Made For Me is a striking collection of Biita Houdei’s (pronounced “bee-tah who-day”) stirring, signature folk songs, brought into fruition with the help of fellow songwriter Haley Heynderickx, in her first lead production role, and the album’s producer/engineer Sahil Ansari. It’s first release Biita is releasing under her newly-taken name, one that was gifted to her by her auntie and means "unique" in the Farsi language.

Recorded across ten back-to-back and full days, which began with fermented tea and ended with a shared meal together, the album touches on themes of love and heritage, of taking chances, the preciousness of time and the impact we all have on the world around us.

It’s a defined moment that brought Biita and Haley together in the physical space, although Haley’s presence drifts through the recordings in a variety of means and ways. Guided by trust and intuition, it’s a relationship some 8 years in the making, the two becoming friends after Biita opened a show for Haley back in 2018.

Ahead of their work here, the two went on a writing retreat together, staying in their own small campers in rural Oregon, and they replicated this cosiness for the studio setting too, seeking out a space that embraced both quiet solitude and human connection.

This close sense of comradery is ever-present on This Bed Was Made For Me. Light and laughter dance their way through the recordings, even when the subject matter veers towards its darker corners. The album feels lived in and alive; dust swirls, seasons shift, sunshine appears and is held.

Opening track "The Ground Here," which features Big Thief’s Buck Meek, showcases such aesthetics, the playful idiosyncrasies of the instrumentation allowing Biita’s voice to run wild and free among the scorched grasslands she sings of, the lush rivers she’s left behind. The song is shaped by the generous meeting of Biita and Buck, their voices woven together in beautiful harmony, a dance that is repeated throughout the album and brings the whole thing to life – whether it’s Haley’s voice drifting in or Biita’s own layered vocals.

1. The Ground Here
2. Fennel Knows
3. Frog Song
4. Time Go Time Gone
5. Life Inside the Hourglass
6. Burnin'
7. Quiet and Warm Willed
8. Adelaide
9. Night Fright
10. This Bed Was Made for Me
11. Peach in the Briar
12. Window in the Winter
13. Bud Worth Biting