The Bird's Companion 'A Place Outside of Time' [CD]

This special limited edition release is in a run of 100 copies, modeled around the classic gatefold vinyl LP. It includes printed front, rear and inner sleeves featuring photography by the artist, with design by Andrew Heath. There is also a card sleeve housing a vinyl-effect CDr.

The Bird’s Companion is the Ambient project of Casey van Wensem, a musician based in Victoria, Canada. Having first explored music through piano lessons as a child, his passion for creating original compositions has helped him hone a sound that blends elements of minimalism, modern classical, and post-rock, drawing inspiration from the likes of Steve Reich, Nils Frahm, and Mogwai. Since adopting The Bird’s Companion moniker in 2015 with a self-released EP called After the Fire, Casey has released music on 1631 and, some may recall his debut EP for Whitelabrecs ‘The Edge of the Sea’. He also collaborates widely across genres in his local scene.

A Place Outside of Time is a collection shaped by dreamy, cinematic nostalgia. The album was crafted using a range of acoustic and electric instruments including piano, electric guitar, baritone guitar, banjo and various synths. Plucked piano strings and layered guitar feedback provides a tapestry of sound that feels both intimate and expansive, evoking lost memories and distant places.

At the heart of this record lies a meditation on memory and the fragility of tradition. Inspired by a chapter from Gabriel García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude, where an entire town succumbs to amnesia, the album imagines music as a vessel to retrieve what’s slipping away. Track titles such as The Memory Machine hint at this deeper narrative, as Casey reflects on the fading wisdom of elders and the challenge of preserving their stories in an age dominated by rapid digital change. Casey reflects “Many of the titles on the album are taken directly from the text of this chapter. For example, The Memory Machine is a reference to the machine built by Jose Arcadio Buendia – a machine that spins images of a person’s entire life before their eyes, so they can retrieve their memories in the midst of their amnesia. I was also thinking a lot about my family when making the album, especially my grandparents and my wife’s grandparents, who have had a major influence in my life”.

When we feel lost, we can return to our memories as a source of hope by remembering the miracles and joys of our past and of our ancestors. Through its layered melodies and wistful textures, A Place Outside of Time invites listeners into a world where memories are treasures to be unearthed; an act of quiet rebellion against forgetfulness, and a journey back to the roots of who we are. 

Written and produced by Casey van Wensem
Mastered by James Edward Armstrong
Photography by Casey van Wensem
Art and design by Andrew Heath