'Our Future Is Ancient'

In addition to the 'Dark Days, Luminous Nights' film that the Minx and I went to see recently, Simon has also been working on a piece called 'Our Future Is Ancient' for over a year now, travelling to Macclesfield Forest every full moon in order to complete a piece for the Barnaby Festival.

I had initially thought that the event would be similar to Simon's event at The Creameries a couple of years back, where he showed his photos and talked about them, with interludes for music, and certainly he has posted some beautiful photos over the lifetime of the Macclesfield project.

However, it turned out that this evening's event would be a film, narrated live by Simon, while music was played. To be honest, the film and story were a bit too mystical for a literal fellow like me but the music...

Last month, Simon had sent me a couple of drones* he was working on, which I liked, and he said there would be a singer and a cellist improvising over the top, which, frankly, sounded like it could go either way (with the clever money being on something toe-curling) but, friends, it was magnificent.

Simon's drones were even better and sounded amazing in the church space where the event was being held. In addition to that, both the cellist, Liz Hanks, and the singer, Ríoghnach Connolly, were outstanding, with the later looping and layering her voice. It was all beautiful.

*Long (really long) notes and chords that he'd played on analogue synths, which evolved musically and sonically over time.

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Reading: 'Meet Mathilda, Rocket Builder' by Dom Conlon