From The Understory • Debut EP • Music from the Eden Project
2023 | Artist
Alice at the Eden Project - photo by Mark Lomas
Music featuring the atmospheric sounds of plants from the Eden Project’s Rainforest Biome form a part of the debut EP from composer and musician Alice Boyd.
The EP, entitled From The Understory, was released on streaming platforms and on eco-mix vinyl on 21st April 2023 just in time for Earth Day on 22nd April, an annual celebration of environmental protection.
Written during her artist residency at the Eden Project, ‘From The Understory’ brings the voices of plants to life, exploring our evolutionary journey and connection to the biosphere through an arrangement of vocals, electronics and analogue textures.
Through her music, Alice adds her voice to the many who call out for action on the climate crisis and environmental issues. The EP questions the separation of ‘human’ and ’nature’ and reminds us of the entanglement of life on earth, from the air we breathe to the food we eat.
“Alice’s music beautifully reframes the urgent climate crisis into an opportunity for reconnection with nature.”
“A perfectly judged tangle of synthetic and human voices, silences, field recordings, and unearthly gurgles. It feels like one of those precious first albums that contains the untapped energy of everything that could happen next. ”
The EP opens with Alice’s debut single ‘Separation’, which features the sounds from Eden’s Rainforest plants.
To capture the sounds, Alice spent a week in the Rainforest Biome as part of an artist residency. She used a hand-crafted Arduino device to record conductivity data, which fluctuates as water moves around the leaves.
Alice ‘sonified’ this into music, using synthesisers to ‘voice’ variations in the data. This plant music is the foundation of the EP, appearing as the opening electronic bed in Separation and in intricate melodies heard on later tracks.
Alice has released the music onto a limited run of eco-mix vinyls.
Eco-Mix is a 100% recycled compound made from trimmed flash and leftovers from any colour which cannot otherwise be reused. The trimmed flash is the excess vinyl that is trimmed off after the vinyl puck is pressed, and the leftover colour granulate is usually from 2 or 3 colour effect discs that cannot be reused into single colour discs. This method produces a unique look and colour for each vinyl, cutting down on waste and making each record individual. The colour you receive will be a lucky dip, and can range from sea green to ruby red!
You can purchase one in Alice’s online shop.
Alice is joined by five female/non-binary singers: Dazey, Emily Izen Row, Issa, XATIVA and Zha Gandhi. Together, their voices create swelling harmonies, inspired by groups such as Dirty Projectors and Deep Throat Choir. Alice worked with co-producer and mixing engineer Liam Evans (JC Palmer, Lectures) to create the energetic instrumental arrangements.
Alice’s artist residency at Eden was part of the Eden Universe research project with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. The project explored how 5G technologies can increase online engagement and help connect people to each other and the living world. Alice’s debut performance in the Rainforest Biome became the first-ever interactive live-streamed show at Eden.
Singers at the Eden Project - photo by Daisy Russell
“To present Alice’s performance as part of Eden Universe, Eden and aql created a flexible digital platform across the entire Eden site as one of nine 5G test sites with DCMS. Using 360˚ cameras, we created an immersive experience which enabled Alice and her ensemble to connect to audiences across the world. We’re looking forward to working with her on future creative projects.”
Alice’s music was made possible with support from Sound and Music’s New Voices programme, PRS’s Women Make Music grant and Arts Council England’s Develop Your Creative Practice grant.
