I hear the cry
Of their voices high
Falling dreamily through the sky,
But their forms I cannot see.

For someone who thinks it’s difficult to describe music in general it’s even more difficult to describe the soundscapes of BIRDS OF PASSAGE. The influences of Alicia Merz – the girl behind BIRDS OF PASSAGE – are her memories, breathless-inspiring cold winds, the smell and atmosphere of a spring day, smoking cigarettes, sunshine and shadows. As a mixture of all these elements and a minimalistic experimental instrumentation you could describe her music as follows: sometimes shy, sometimes more energetic (“Fantastic Frown”) but always intensely and extremly private. Listening to her debut record WITHOUT THE WORLD is like sharing one long day with Alicia and her thoughts in the diverse landscapes of her home country New Zealand.

Alicia doesn’t need the bombastic spectacle of a band to evoke emotions – with the help of different instruments, used in a minimalsitic way and combined with field recordings she doesn’t create specific songs – she builds up a mood. You maybe can describe BIRDS OF PASSAGE as a singer songwriter for people who don’t like singer songwriter music. There’s no typical song structure, there’s no melody to chase after – but there’s a development which absorbs you and which makes you start to think about elements you block out in your everyday life.

From their distant flight
Through realms of light
It falls into our world of night,
With the murmuring sound of rhyme.