'Simmerdim: Curlew Sounds' is a unique double album, multi-artist project of newly-commissioned works and soundscapes, inspired by one of the UK's most iconic and endangered birds, the Eurasian curlew. The project is the brainchild of the Orkney-born musician Merlyn Driver, who, with the support of the RSPB, has made this extraordinary project possible.

The idea for the Curlew Sounds project emerged from Merlyn's work on a new song, 'Simmerdim', inspired by his memories of curlews. In the course of his research, he discovered the wealth of folklore, poetry, art and music curlews have inspired, and came to realise the true scale of their recent struggles. In some parts of the UK, curlew numbers have nose-dived more than 60% and they are now on the Birds of Conservation Concern Red List. The devastating prospect of losing curlews from the British countryside drove Merlyn to act and assemble new creative responses to this iconic bird - specifically to raise funds and awareness for their conservation.

Merlyn reached out to a group of musicians who were either UK-based or from countries where the curlew migrates to or from the UK, such as Norway and Finland, and asked them to compose new music inspired by the curlew. Collaborations came from Talvin Singh, David Gray, The Unthanks, Tiny Leaves, Cosmo Sheldrake, Camilla George & Tamar Osborne, Emily Barker, Puuluup, El Buho, feat David Rothenberg, Marja Mortensson, feat. Daniel Herskedal, Tuuletar and Merlyn Driver, feat. Nathan Riki Thomson.

For Disc Two, Merlyn travelled, Alan Lomax-style, the length and breadth of the UK, collecting recordings of curlews at five locations around the UK identified as priority landscapes for curlews by the RSPB's Curlew LIFE project; Geltsdale and Hadrian's Wall (England), Ysbyty Ifan and Hiraethog (Wales), Insh Marshes (Scotland), Loch Erne Lowlands, and Antrim Plateau (Northern Ireland), where the aim is to stabilise curlew breeding populations within these landscapes over the next four years.