01 Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita – SOAR

(bendigedig, 2018)

The winning harp and kora duo pay tribute to the incredible journey made by the osprey who migrates annually from Senegal to Wales. The album opens with the delicate and lilting ‘Clarach’, named after the first osprey to be born at the Dyfi Osprey Project in mid-Wales. A Top of the World review in the May 2018 issue (#137), it also won them an award in 2019’s Songlines Music Awards.

Correction: 'Clarach' is named after the first osprey to be born, and successfully return to its natal nest following migration, at the Dyfi Osprey Project in mid-Wales.

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02 Cocanha – Puput

(Pagans/Dardalh, 2020)

Puput is the Occitan word for the crested hoopoe and there’s a lovely black-and-white illustration of this crested bird on the cover of Cocanha’s album, a compelling collection of songs accompanied by body percussion and the drone-like thrum of the eerie tambourine à cordes. 

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03 Sam Lee – Old Wow

(Cooking Vinyl, 2020)

Although most often found singing with nightingales, it’s a different bird that inspired the title of this album. Old Wow refers to the moment a buzzard swooped down on the singer while he was out walking: ‘The old wow never wears thin,’ he sings on the opening track, referring to nature’s ability to instil wonder. 

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04 Monte – Mirla

(Monte, 2020)

This is the solo debut of Simón Mejía of Bombá Estéreo, a band well-known for being eco-conscious. Comprising of field recordings made by Mejía, including a bird who visited his terrace every day, it’s an exploration of the links between Colombia’s folk music and nature.

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05 Nightjar Orchestra – Synaesthesia

(ECC Records, 2015)

A serenely enjoyable pairing of folk, soap and birdsong. The co-owner of Lush, Mark Constantine, commissioned Simon Emmerson and The Imagined Village to write this music for Lush Spa treatments. Both are passionate bird watchers and Constantine’s recordings of song thrushes and jackdaws feature here along with folkies including Jackie Oates and Martin Carthy.

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06 Northern Flyway – Northern Flyway

(Hudson Records, 2018)

An audio-visual project co-written by Shetlander Jenny Sturgeon and Inge Thomson from Fair Isle that delves into the ecology, symbolism and mythology behind birds and their migration habits. The album and live shows feature the sound recordings of bird expert Magnus Robb and beatboxer Jason Singh, an impressive bird call mimic. 

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07 Penguin Cafe – Handfuls of Night

(Erased Tapes, 2019)

Penguin Cafe’s Arthur Jeffes was originally commissioned by Greenpeace to write music to bring attention to the environmental crisis taking place in Antarctica. Jeffes responded by writing this suite of music, highlighting four different breeds of endangered Antarctic penguin. Minimalist, contemplative and evocative.

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08 Karine Polwart & Pippa Murphy – A Pocket of Wind Resistance

(Hudson Records, 2017)

This is the music to Wind Resistance, a remarkable theatre piece that premiered at Edinburgh Festival in 2016. The title refers to the geese that create ‘pockets of wind resistance’ to help each other as they fly: ‘stepping up, falling back, labouring and resting’ is repeated like a mantra, describing these ‘sky-born socialists… no lone bird bears the brunt.’ 

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09 Cosmo Sheldrake – Wake Up Calls

(Tardigrade Records, 2020)

This features bird recordings made by Sheldrake and also one by Bernie Krause of a cuckoo singing above Benjamin Britten’s grave in Aldeburgh. ‘I hope that this music may serve as a wake-up call: to help us become more aware of the glorious polyphonic soundworlds that surround us before many of these voices become extinct,’ says Sheldrake. 

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10 Various Artists – A Guide to the Birdsong of Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean

(Shika Shika, 2020)

The brainchild of environmental activist and electronic producer Robin Perkins, aka El Búho (The Owl). All ten tracks are by different producers and musicians, including the Garifuna Collective, and 100% of the profits go towards bird conservation.

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This article originally appeared in the June 2021 issue of Songlines. Never miss an issue – subscribe today