Karine Polwart

Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris asked for this new album to be created as a companion piece to their forthcoming book The Book of Birds. They have worked closely with the 7 featured folk/world musicians (Karine Polwart, Julie Fowlis, Kris Drever, Seckou Ketia, Rachel Newton, Beth Porter and Jim Molyneux) to create a mixed media book and CD which brings together writing, art, music and nature. The album itself takes the form of a beautifully designed square box filled with art cards featuring newly commissioned art by Jackie Morris, a hard back CD book with newly commissioned art by Jackie, documentary photography of the collaborative process, a comprehensive article by Robert Macfarlane discussing the ways in which different art forms can inspire one another as well as beautiful writing from each of the musicians. The CD itself is housed within the CD Book. There is also a pull out (concertina) artwork of a migration by Jackie Morris created especially for this mixed media book. The Book of Birds (this album's inspiration) is a love letter to the splendours and mysteries of birdlife, and a clarion call to halt the loss of birds from land, sea and sky. Both the book and this new album are a poetic and creative response to the great thinning of our skies. "This album is a tremendous and powerful thing...singing bright and fierce right into our contemporary moment". Robert Macfarlane

After a terrible storm, the Kingdom of Birds is looking for a leader. Will it be the bird with the loveliest song, or the brightest plumage? The fastest in the air, or underwater? The bird who flies highest, or those who stick together and work as a team? All across the sky, birds are flocking together. Nightingales and robins, barn owls and blackbirds. The eagle, the flamingo, the birds of the moor. Curlews and cuckoos and herons and hoopoes. And Wee Jenny Wren. Let the contest begin!

A young girl and her mother settle in the woods for a night’s sleep, after a long and tiring journey. But who will keep them safe from harm? A wee bird is watching from the trees. And he knows just what to do. A vividly illustrated telling of a folk tale that speaks to themes of displacement, migration and protection.