[1] In 2005, Tilbury released his debut EP Birdengine, a collection of experimental tape melodies, on the now defunct Scottish label Benbecula Records.

[6][7] In 2007, Independent label Drift Records released I Fed Thee Rabbit Water, a mini-album of wandering folk songs which garnered Tilbury praise for his stark nylon guitar playing,[8] and deadpan humour "There's not likely to be a more arresting opening couplet to an album this year":[9] Tilbury spent 2010 recording songs to a 16 track reel-to-reel tape player.

SOMNAM contains themes of grief, sleep and nostalgia and utilises tape loops, vocal sampling, warped distorted synthesis and organic rhythms created using found sound.

[15] Later in 2021 Birdengine released the mini-album BRUTAL, 9 very different pieces from solo piano sketches to distorted heavy synth via church organ and field recordings.

Birdengine's live performances have been described as "both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures",[8] having "strange and compelling beauty"[16] and a "bizarre, yet deeply likeable tone".