we had returned from a few days in southern france. our flight was redirected to london for some strange reasons. it was hot and humid when we got off the plane and we decided to stay in the heathrow airport-building, waiting for our connection flight back to germany. while sitting in a typical airport-café, eating overpriced small sandwiches and drinking lousy coffee, still tired from sleepless nights in french clubs, we spotted a beautifully dressed couple kissing and feeding themselves chocolate-bars. the fabric of the girl’s dress looked like an él graphic design. it took us a while to realise that debsey wykes and paul kelly from our beloved band birdie were sitting just next to us. a big hello – hugs were exchanged; we hadn’t met each other in a long time. birdie were about to head down south to portugal, where they were supposed to be playing a few concerts with saint etienne. debsey told us about the extremely hot summer they had experienced in london and it was paul who said “please rain fall”. we all laughed and were remembered of the classic track by the sea urchins. stories about sarah records were shared and when it was time for the both to leave we all agreed that this wonderful song simply needed to be covered. that’s what birdie did – a few weeks after their tour with saint etienne they recorded a very personal and lovely version of please rain fall. together with other previously unreleased songs and long deleted b-sides this masterpiece appears on an album exclusively released via apricot records. it’s a collection of warm and tender moments – songs you can put on in the middle of the night, a soundtrack for stepping outside to watch the stars. the song natural star feels like a shy hug by someone you’ve fancied for years, the melody of lift up the sun glows and shimmers like a bracelet with diamonds. it’s a wonderful record. and when the first days of autumn appear we’ll take the songs as a remembrance of summer.