Levitation Orchestra | “Sanctuary” Album Launch
What happens when ten virtuoso musicians create music collectively with no room for ego? Islington Assembly Hall plays host to the result, a set bursting with ideas, each given space to flourish.
What happens when ten virtuoso musicians create music collectively with no room for ego? Islington Assembly Hall plays host to the result, a set bursting with ideas, each given space to flourish.
Levitation Orchestra has no star, no front-man; their core philosophy when writing and performing is egalitarianism. While band leader Axel Kaner-Lidström guides the broad structure, each member contributes integrally to the writing process. Their third LP Sanctuary marks five years of operating with this idea, a commitment that’s paid dividends in its execution.
James Akers delivers a sinuous saxophone introduction, a torrent of notes flooding the hall. As the solo reaches a surely lung-bursting length the band breaks into A Small Truth. With so many performers, it’s easy to miss subtle flourishes playing out across the stage—while Lluís Domènech Plana tears it up on the flute, bassist Hamish Nockles Moore holds down the rhythm section with fluid confidence. Harpist Marya Osuchowska meanwhile plucks dreamy harmonics that cut through overlapping melodies shared across the horn section.
While conventional band setups place the singer front and centre, vocalist Plumm contributes no less vitally to the rich texture of the set. During Another Way her precision and clarity plays well off the fuzzy, dissonant guitar lines offered by Paris Reyne. Alternating between sung lyrics and rhythmic syllables, Plumm might double a saxophone part before taking the lead in quieter moments.
It’s during such a lull that the band thanks music educator Paul Griffiths for shaping their communal writing style. Griffiths was himself inspired by a performance from The Sun Ra Archestra in 2013, prompting him to pass on the values of exploration, diversity and collaboration set out by the visionary composer.
These principles are typified most clearly in the closing song, Sanctuary. The audience joins in a sung melody as Harry Ling glides over the drum kit in a wash of shimmering cymbals. While there’s certainly some pitchy voices in the crowd, in these numbers they all contribute to a cohesive whole. Across the night it’s the most direct indication that music belongs to everyone.
Plumm at Dalston Eastern Curve Garden
Layered electronics led by searing vocals from this rising London-based artist.
Copyright: Tom Bligh / Rascoe Art
Layered electronics led by searing vocals from this rising London-based artist.
Nestled just off the high-street, Dalston Eastern Curve Garden hosts a weekly variety of both emerging and established musical talent. Curated by Woodburner Music each summer, the grassroots series covers a dizzying array of styles and has supported the growth of Blue Lab Beats, Rosie Frater-Taylor, plus many others.
London-based artist Plumm is the latest to grace the stage. She’s kept up a steady stream of singles since debuting in 2018 with The Shed EP, honing a vivid fusion of jazz and trip hop laced with hazy electronics. Meanwhile she’s busily collaborated with fellow artists on the underground circuit—most recently harpist Marysia Osu and production duo Solid Wall—all while fronting the psychedelic jazz collective Levitation Orchestra. Tonight Plumm presents the culmination of her solo work featuring live-looped synths complete with a full band.
A vague, shimmering bed of sound introduces an improvised solo piece to open the set. Plumm freely vocalises over looped echoes of her own voice in a playful call-and-response. As opposed to beginning with a fan-favourite, this direction charts a course of controlled experimentation that runs throughout the set.
You Are The One, from Plumm’s 2018 debut, introduces an air of coiled tension. She sings in a pondering cadence, words tumbling over one another as if we’re privy to an intimate conversation. Flame to Flame is likewise a confessional, confrontational piece: "You've pushed me to my limits”. This kindling pressure rises to a head as the piece ends with a flurry of shattering cymbals and distorted guitars.
Plumm’s influences are laid out in a mashup of two Massive Attack songs, Black Milk and Angel. This confident reimagining of early UK trip-hop carries creative flavours of London’s jazz underground, attesting to the quality of her chosen band-mates. A selection of unreleased tracks appear throughout the night. Master Plan offers a glimpse into new sonic territory as up-tempo, snappy drums beat underneath urgent spoken word passages.
Digital techniques like live looping and ambient effects can risk softening the audience’s connection to live performances. Plumm’s vocal delivery guides these additions however, firmly rooting the music in the raw expression that defines her style. Plumm admits that the setup “has been changing for so long and it's wonderful to know that this is the sound". After years of refinement, tonight's performance is its triumphant realisation.
Words by Ben Browning | Artwork by Tom Bligh