专辑简介

BirdPen are Dave Pen and Mike Bird. Formed in 2003 while sharing a flat in their hometown of Southampton, the dynamic duo self-released a handful of well received EP’s over the next few years before finally unleashing a debut album in 2009 entitled ‘On/Off/Safety/Danger’ that was frequently compared to Radiohead. For its follow up, 2012’s ‘Global Lows’, they recorded at Eve Studios in Stockport and worked with Jim Spencer and Frank Arkwright (the latter a renowned mastering engineer usually based at Abbey Road). Over the years they have added new elements to their sound, with the brand new ‘In The Company Of Imaginary Friends’ arriving as an expansive collection of spatial, occasionally experimental yet cinematic guitar based rock. Describing their sound as akin to “standing at the end of the world with a smile on your face”, BirdPen have toured mainland Europe frequently yet have remained below the radar in their home territory. Outside of the band, Mike has plied his trade working with a myriad of successful global acts as a programmer and engineer and has also recently joined Dave in becoming part of the successful London-­‐based music collective Archive. For his part, Dave has been an integral part of Archive for a decade as a singer and guitarist and has co-­‐written on 6 of their studio albums (including the just released ‘Restriction’). The band has a huge following and they continue to tour large venues and perform at major European festivals. Dave has also collaborated with songwriter/composer Robin Foster. The pair recently wrote the main song for the film ‘Metro Manila’ (scored by Foster), which won the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and was also nominated for a BAFTA. The soundtrack itself was nominated for a World Soundtrack Award. Dave continues to collaborate with Robin and they have their own artist project called We Are Bodies which will release an album in 2015. However, BirdPen is where it all began for Dave and Mike and ‘In The Company of Imaginary Friends’ explores the concept of reaching out for freedom in a world that is forever spiralling out of control. The freedom of mountains and feeling alive, the tempting pendulum of escape through false substances, voices in your head, the questioning of your own sanity and asking yourself “am I going mad?” Finding your lifeline that gets you through it all and the ultimate outcome of “you get one life and then you’re dead”. A self financed project, the final stages of the new album were funded through a campaign with Pledge Music that reached its target amount in a few weeks. As with their previous releases, this allowed them to master the album with Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road Studios, print up a limited run of vinyl and and perform another tour on the continent.