Photo: Kate Griffin

Few ensembles capture the beauty and unpredictability of collective improvisation like Emergence Collective, one of the most interesting and adventurous groups to emerge from Sheffield’s vibrant music scene. The group bring together a cast of some of the most masterful improvisers from across the North of England, musicians whose diverse backgrounds and remarkable musical intuition allow them to create something entirely their own. Now, following last year’s Swimming in the Early Hours, they are preparing to release a new album titled Concord. Out on November 13th through Dwell Recordings, the new album was recorded at Yellow Arch Studios and features ten musicians from the collective’s revolving line-up, exploring a more cinematic side to their sound through gritty textures and hypnotic grooves. As with their previous releases, the music on Concord is entirely improvised, with no prepared compositions or predetermined structures to guide them, just a chosen key and an openness to wherever the music might lead. Drawing on folk, jazz, experimental, early and contemporary classical music, they bring together a wealth of influences without settling into any one of them. The absence of vocals and drums also places an even greater emphasis on the interplay between instruments, allowing melodies to unfold gradually and organically. “Concord feels more cinematic in nature,” explains co-director Rob Bentall, continuing:

“It’s a slow-burner, but intrinsically very beautiful. The melodies on this record have a sense of longing to them. There is something nostalgic and wistful about how the music unfolds.”

Across five pieces, Emergence Collective explore an intriguing palette of instruments, including the Swedish nyckelharpa, hammered dulcimer, contrabass recorder and Spanish laúd, finding beauty in their contrasting timbres and the subtle sounds that emerge through playing them. Their revolving line-up, drawn from a wider community of around forty musicians, means that no two performances are ever quite the same. Co-director Juliana Day comments:

“What I find exciting about any Emergence Collective recording or performance is that you never quite know what you’re going to get, but you know it’s probably going to be great. Every time we play, something different happens, which is really energising. The recording captures one particular meeting of those elements, which makes it feel like a document of something that couldn’t quite happen in the same way again.”

Zebedee C. Budworth, who also co-directs the ensemble, adds:

“Everything we do, be it a performance or a recording, needs to tread a new path. Recording with the same lineup twice is not something we could ever settle for. At the heart of the decision to take the project to the studio lies the need to capture the group at a moment in time.”

Ahead of the album’s release, we’re delighted to share the utterly gorgeous and spellbinding opening track, ‘In the Clearing’, clocking in at nearly seventeen minutes. Press play and let yourself get lost in its magic.