Concrète Waves is a groundbreaking live collaboration between two titans of avant-garde electronic music, five-time Grammy award nominated composer Suzanne Ciani & one of the most distinctive & influential contemporary electronic producers Darren J. Cunningham (Actress).

For Ciani, a huge part of her musical endeavors have been devoted to delivering more feminine sensibilities out of the machines, in particular the Buchla, that underpin her practice. Time and time again, the ocean has offered a rich metaphor for the feminine systems she is eager to encapsulate to her listeners, such as her album ‘Seven Waves’, released in 1982. She fills space with swelling oceanic soundwaves alongside synthesizer melodies and timbres. The result is deeply personal, almost spiritual and couched in a desire for connection and communication.

The natural world evoked by Ciani provides a stark counterpoint to Actress’ practice of ‘R&B’ Concrète. Coined by the artist around the time of the release of his album ‘‘R.I.P’, this unique methodology refers to the very foundations of his project and process. Pulling raw layers and field recordings of urban cityscapes and the industrial backdrop of his home in the Midlands, ‘R&B’ Concréte allows Cunningham the ability to encompass the wider world of experimental and populist music, whilst positioned from the eerie lens of introversion and solitary meditation.

Where Actress & Ciani undoubtedly come together is through total singularity in their respective sounds. Throughout both of their careers, each have displayed an unrelenting desire to create unique musical environments and forms around their projects that is unmatched by their contemporaries.

By harnessing the power of their similarities and differences, Suzanne Ciani & Actress will come together in a never seen before live performance with bespoke lighting and stage design. Stylistically, the collaboration will explore the interplay between both of their styles and sound palettes by building and expanding upon the unconventional rhythmic framework of Actress’ industrial practise ‘R&B’ Concrète via Ciani’s enveloping melodic natural oceanic expressions on the Buchla.

The juxtaposition of the natural and industrial world as a space for sonic play will aim to build upon & expand both innovators' dense conceptual framework, presented in quadraphonic sound, resulting in the creation of a brand new boundary-pushing electronic landscape and immersive experience.