Bibio Announces New Album, Shares Video for New Song: Watch

Bibio, the long-running musical project of Stephen Wilkinson, has announced a new album. Sleep on the Wing is due out June 12 via Warp. Wilkinson has now shared the title track, along with an accompanying music video animated by Sonnye Lim. Check it out below. Find physical editions of Sleep on the Wing at Rough Trade. (Pitchfork earns a commission from purchases made through affiliate links on our site.)

According to a press release, Sleep on the Wing mostly came together over the course of last year. The largely instrumental collection was recorded in Bibio’s home studio in the English Midlands. The title track was inspired by a particular bird (the swift) and its ability to to sleep during flight. “Lyrically, I feel that the song has two aspects to it,” Bibio said in press materials. He continued:

The idea of being in the wake of a loss, and with hope, continuing the
life of someone who has passed, through allowing oneself to be
inspired by what they did during their lifetime and what they left
behind, whether it’s the things they said, the knowledge they shared
or the things they made. The other aspect to the song is perhaps more
direct, and talks of escaping the city to find peace in the
countryside, but the title is more a celebration of dreaming and the
liberating power of imagination, not necessarily a physical escape.
Music has the power to inspire dreaming and fuel the imagination, and
that’s what I’ve always found so addictive about music.

Sonnye Lim added, “I wanted to capture the feeling of a temporary escape from the bustling city. The swift provides a glimpse of a serene, and carefree world.”

Sleep on the Wing:

01 Sleep on the Wing
02 A Couple Swim
03 Lightspout
04 Oakmoss
05 Miss Blennerhassett
06 The Milkyway Over Ratlinghope
07 Awpockes
08 Crocus
09 Otter Shadows
10 Warching Thus, the Heron Is All Pool