Recorded in 1984 and originally released in March 1985, Birdy marked the first opportunity for Peter to work with French-Canadian producer and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Lanois, who later co-produced both Peter's solo and US albums.

The soundtrack to the Alan Parker film of the same name - the story of a Vietnam veteran who has the ambition to fly like Icarus - finds Peter flexing his creative muscles free from any commercial pressures, and features a number of tracks drawn from elements from Peter's third and fourth solo albums.