A Novocastrian's album of bird calls has shot to number five in the ARIA charts, ahead of albums by ABBA, Michael Buble and Justin Bieber.
Anthony Albrecht's album, Songs of Disappearance, hit number five in its first week in the ARIA album charts, behind records from Adele, Ed Sheeran, Paul Kelly and Taylor Swift.
"We're trying to stay in the charts for a second week," Anthony said.
The album is a collaboration with violinist Simone Slattery through the Bowerbird Collective.
"Our goal is to tell nature stories and engage people emotionally with conservation issues," Anthony said.
"With this project, we're trying to raise awareness of the plight of Australia's threatened species."
The album was timed to coincide with the release of Birdlife Australia's new action plan. "It shows one in six Australian bird species are threatened," Anthony said.
The album came about when Anthony was sitting in a cafe in Darwin with his PhD supervisor, Professor Stephen Garnett, who also edited the bird action plan.
"We were thinking how we could use a creative project to highlight the action plan," Anthony said.
"We came up with this idea to get as many threatened species as we could on an album and get it into the ARIA charts."
He said the bird calls on the album had created a "unique soundscape".
"These incredible calls shouldn't be silenced through inaction," he said.
"One of the things I love most about Australia is the diversity of the birds and bird calls."
He sought to encourage "as many Australians as possible to appreciate these sounds" and help conserve the birds.
The album is described as a "chorus of iconic cockatoos, buzzing bowerbirds and a bizarre symphony of seabirds", along with the "haunting call of one of the last remaining night parrots".
He said sound recordist David Stewart "generously supplied his recordings from the last 40 years from every corner of Australia".
"David had to travel to some of the most remote places and wait patiently for hours in the bush to get these recordings," Anthony said.
The album celebrates "his legacy and efforts over that time".
Bach and the Bush
On the subject of Anthony Albrecht, his Bach to the Bush solo cello performances are on this month.
He'll perform in Dungog on Thursday and Newcastle on Saturday.
Anthony, who graduated from The Juilliard School in New York in 2014 and divides his time between Canada and Australia, said pandemic life meant collaborative projects like the bird-call album were "more part of my life now".
"It's crossing digital borders rather than physical ones," he said.
