Photo supplied by the band
XPERIMENTAL CHAMBER COLLECTIVE COLLECTRESS SHARE A NEW VIDEO FOR “LANDING”
FILMED AT THE METAXOURGIO CARNIVAL IN ATHENS
DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHIES OUT 6 MARCH VIA PEELER RECORDS
Ahead of the release of their new and second album, Different Geographies tomorrow, experimental chamber collective Collectress share the video for “Landing” featuring footage from the Metaxourgio carnival in Greece, a visual exploration and reflection on community, anarchy, kindness and welcome.
“The track itself has always alway felt to us like it mixes a big heart and an energetic spirit with something about endurance, continuity and inter-dependence. Setting it to imagery from the life-force that is carnival seemed like the perfect expression of this.” – deeper insight into this video below.
It was a particular set of revellers at the carnival that first caught the eyes of one particular member of Collectress, those who were dressed in animal skins, carried goat horns, skulls, and staffs, and were covered in the ornate bells of the mountain goats. “For me they seemed to embody the anarchic spirit of the festival, always jumping and dancing, full of mischief, nature and mystery, a mix of dark and light, challenge and exuberance, traditional and modern, ancient bells and scruffy urban footwear combining in a leaping deafening joyfulness.”
“Since being in Greece, I’ve thought and read a lot about Greece’s at times complex relationship with its ancient history – a past often essentialised by Northern/Western Europe (think Byron, ‘Elgin’ Marbles, White/Christian/Fortress Europe). I’ve also thought and read a lot about Greece’s geographical position on the borders of Europe, Asia and Africa and its people’s heartbreaking humanity to refugees during the ongoing migrant crisis. Something of all of this seemed to be expressed both in the symbolism of those goat revellers and in the spirit of the carnival. I noticed as we paraded along, the tradition of restaurant and cafe proprietors placing tables outside their establishments, covered with cheese and bread and drinks for the revellers to enjoy for free. I thought of the potential in community, anarchy, kindness and welcome.”
The members of Collectress have been very dispersed in recent years, and they have said before that this was the genesis of the idea of ‘different geographies’. Where possible, they wanted to bring their different influences to bear on the things they have made, whether from a seafront balcony in Newhaven or a scruffy pavement in downtown Athens. The “Landing” video is part of this.
The Collectress creative palate is bursting with colour, and Different Geographies expresses their unique and enchanting take on the world. The album arrives tomorrow, March 6th via their own Peeler Records on digital and limited CD formats.
Collectress Spring Shows:
Friday April 10 – Brighton Album Launch at The Rosehill, Brighton
Saturday May 9 – Daylight Session (plus special guests), Union Chapel, London
Collectress are:
Alice Eldridge – cello, Korg MS10, laptop feedback, piano, Rhodes, vocals, percussion
Rebecca Waterworth – cello, piano, vocals, percussion
Caroline Weeks – flute, guitar, Yamaha VSS200, piano, Rhodes, vocals, percussion
Quinta – violin, piano, Rhodes, Korg MS10, Yamaha VSS200, musical saw, vocals, percussion
Further album credits:
Double bass (‘In the Streets, In the Fields’ & ‘Landing’) – Andy Waterworth recorded by Arthur Jeffes (Penguin Cafe)
Engineered – Joe Watson (Stereolab)
Mixed – TJ Allen (Bat for Lashes, Portishead)
Mastered – Dylan Beattie
Find out more
www.collectress.co.uk