Leverton Fox – In The Flicker

Not Applicable

The Covid break two summers ago found renowned experimental trio Leverton Fox taking their gear and a loose idea into a Sussex woodland, setting up two ambient mics, sitting back and allowing their improvisational magic to unfold amidst the fallen leaves, spreading boughs and hidden animal trails.

The whole thing feels like an invitation; an invitation to descend into the undergrowth and to listen as the sounds of nature and their synthesised equivalents seek to find common ground, way out of reach of the day-to-day, a journey into a lush wilderness populated by unseen forces; a drop down an Alice-like rabbit hole.

Aside from the trio’s electronic input, Alex Bonney brings trumpet and Tim Giles the drums. On some of the pieces, it is the trumpet that really sets the tone, drifting over the electronics like a waxing moon, obscured by cloud and then suddenly illuminating the scattered ground with faint light as wind blows through branches and a distant echo of night creatures, warning but not threatening, thousands of lives continuing right around you.

The three players (the other is Isambard Khroustaliov) tinker with your sensibilities, weaving differing strands together, conjuring up myriad images of a hidden world.

Percussive strands are left lingering, mysterious; there is always mystery here, not foreboding as there is no sense of fear. Ambient sounds are allied to the gentle percussion with pensive trumpet welcoming, but only on their terms. I hear hints of some 23 Skidoo experiments as they lay nature open to fresh scrutiny.

The atmosphere grows a little darker as we progress: the moon has gone and the ground is trembling. It is more hypnotic and immersive, the backdrop lifting, the sound growing more tribal, the focus shifting to somewhere more distant, transporting the listener, an escape to something wilder, sharp percussive cracks veiled in kaleidoscopic swathes, crashing through the undergrowth in search of new visions.

Buzzing energy, a trumpet wake up, a gradual build you can feel as it seeps though the roots of the trees, infusing everything with crackling power. The trumpet flies with a cosmic freedom, watching the sky for shooting stars. It is wide open again as fat drops of rain land around you, waiting for the light to start its gradual appearance and allowing the night to descend into silence.

This immersive slice of the natural world invaded by shapeshifting electronics is a treat of a journey that puts you right with them, deep in the woodland, sheltered and truly alive.

-Mr Olivetti-