Sheffield's Emergence Collective announce Fly Tower album, out 30th June on Redundant Span Records
Listen to "S71FS - 3 (Edit)"
Emergence Collective builds beautiful, minimalist sound worlds that gradually evolve through improvised performance.
Featuring a revolving lineup of up to fifteen musicians and a vibrant mix of ancient and modern instruments, Emergence Collective brings together exciting combinations of the North’s finest improvisors.
Their Fly Tower album will be out 30th June on Sheffield's Redundant Span Records, available digitally and on cassette - preorder here.
Drawing on their collective musical backgrounds in folk, jazz, experimental, early and contemporary classical music, Emergence Collective generate a hypnotic, otherworldly kaleidoscope of sound, completely unique to every live performance and every space they perform in.
Emergence Collective - "S71FS-3 (Radio Edit)"
https://on.soundcloud.com/NR56h
Listen on streaming services:
https://emergencecollective.ffm.to/s71fs-3
Album Preorder:
https://emergencecollective.ffm.to/flytower
Live:
9th July - Creative Peaks Festival (tickets)
Emergence Collective are influenced by minimalist composers such as Steve Reich and Terry Riley, and also the work of Joshua Abrams & Natural Information Society. Further influences include Gamelan, Alex McClean’s pattern music and Penguin Café Orchestra.
There are no set members, with ensembles built from a large pool of over 30 musicians from the north of England. All music is completely improvised, with just the starting key a deciding factor, and little to no amplification is used in performances to preserve the natural sound of the instruments.
Their performance captured on Fly Tower was recorded at the Abbeydale Picturehouse Fly Tower in Sheffield, a four storey high room behind the main theatre room, which was historically used to hoist scenery. The room is reverberant, which is a factor taken into consideration when Emergence Collective play. Percussion was curated to accommodate for a large reverb tail.
Their music unfurls slowly, with the collective deciding on the direction, much like a murmuration of starlings. It is partly informed by the location that it is created - a space’s history and sonic properties.
The group perform at the center of a space, facing each other, rather than on a stage. This is to break down any perceived barriers between audience and ensemble, inviting everyone within the space to become a part of the experience.
The collective is directed by Juliana Day (recorders/whistles), Rob Bentall (nyckelharpa), Tim Knowles (guitar) and Zebedee Budworth (hammered dulcimer), and has performed at and sold out venues across the north of England, released several albums, and run practical and accessible workshops exploring their creative process.
Instruments are chosen on the basis of their suitability for each performance space, and the collective is always welcoming of new members. A monthly night is held in Sheffield, similar to a folk session but entirely improvised.
Live performance of Fly Tower
Album credits:
Antigoni Anastasiadou - keys
Rob Bentall - nyckelharpa
Zebedee Budworth - hammer dulcimer
Philippe Clegg - bass guitar
Juliana Day - recorders / whistles / vocals
Sarah Heneghan - percussion
Tim Knowles - acoustic guitar
Manon McCoy - whistles / flute / vocals
Helen Papaioannou - baritone saxophone
Will Shaw - percussion
Album Artwork:
