Why go to a live percussion concert when you can get the music online? For the vibe(s).
There are ample reasons to access the latest album, Dual Attractor, by Australian percussionist, Claire Edwardes OAM online, but Edwardes’ seventy-minute live performance on her national tour adds physicality, immediacy and human engagement to an already potent brew.
Dual Attractor is Edwardes’ seventh solo album. A dual attractor occurs when two centres of gravity pull in opposite directions, and this is the title of the last track, a “psychedelic” music-and-dance piece created by Edwardes and electro-pop artist Paul Mac (Dr. Paul McDermott) for drums and electronics.
The album also features works by five stand-out women composers whom Edwardes greatly admires: a specially commissioned work, I Promise Not to Poison You xoxo, by New Zealand composer Gemma Peacocke, and bespoke arrangements of earlier works by Caroline Shaw / Abby Fisher (arranger), Missy Mazzoli, Natalie Williams and Anna Meredith (composer) / Jessica Wells (arranger).
The resultant works have some most unusual back-stories. Shaw based her solo marimba work, in manus tuas, on fragments from a sixteenth century motet.
Mazzoli’s Orizzonte (Horizons) was originally scored for piano and electronics, and premiered on a piano left out in the rain in a squat in Amsterdam.
Australian composer Natalie Williams honoured the feisty stand taken by women at the Port Kembla Steelworks in Emberstrike, scored for solo vibraphone.
Peacocke explored the curative and/or deathly potential of three ancient herbs (nightshade, hemlock and saffron crocus) to write what she describes in the program notes as a “feminist riff on poison and pleasure”.
And while all these back-stories are somewhat quirky, arguably the quirkiest of all is Meredith’s Bumps Per Minute, inspired by dodgem cars careering around in the grounds of London’s Somerset House.
It was extremely entertaining to hear Edwardes’ account of how each work evolved, but also illuminating to be made aware of the nuanced thinking and complicated creative processes used to compose these innovative works.
The live recital also showcased each of the featured instruments’ expressive potential, and distinctive qualities. The marimba and vibraphone were at opposite ends of the performance space, separated by the drumskins.
The two works for marimba – Shaw’s reimagining of the motet, in manus tuas, and Peacocke’s I promise not to poison you xoxo – highlight the range of percussive staccato effects this wooden instrument can produce. In Shaw’s work as arranged by Abby Fisher, the impact of the mallets striking the blocks gave the lyrical renaissance melody a dramatic, energetic edge. And in Peacocke’s extraordinary exposition of the curative and lethal powers of nightshade, hemlock and saffron crocus, the sticks’ incisive action mirrors the herbs’ effects.
By contrast, the vibraphone’s sustained resonance was apparent from the opening notes of Mazzoli’s meditative piece, Orrizonte. The music seemed to suggest a sonic awakening. It began with a single, seamless note on the backing tape, to which the vibraphone gradually added harmonies and texture, making the soundscape seem increasingly speckled.
In Williams’ Emberstrike, the breakthrough notes that had sounded like specks in Orrizonte, took on a piercing, strident quality; they sounded like sparks, evoking the fierce industrial heat at the Port Kembla Steelworks.
Bumps Per Minute was in a class of its own. Meredith’s original work, Dodgems (2021) comprised eighteen miniature electronic pieces to be triggered at random by the cars bumping into each other. Meredith describes it as “a kind of jumbo bump-triggered audio shuffle”. The three miniatures selected and specially arranged for vibraphone and electronics re-create – spiced up – the sound of iconic performers, such as Joy Division. This arrangement has captured the distinctive sound of the electronic music created for arcade games and fun fairs, with the vibraphone adding colour and a dramatic insistent rhythm.
For the finale, Dual Attractor, attention shifted to the middle of the performance area where the drum skins and electronics stood. Edwardes explained that Dual Attractor was intended to depict “a kind of ecstatic unravelling” that came about when Edwardes and Mac jointly “explored the tensions and exhilarations produced by bodies, movement and sound in performance”. The work begins simply, with Edwardes striking an array of drums to a constant, mesmerising beat. But soon the jangle of sticks, skins and electronics seems to take on a life of its own, getting more complex and intense until it feels as if the music will explode. Edwardes, glittering from head to toe in a sparkly jumpsuit, appeared completely immersed, striking the drumskins with muscular vigour and robotic precision.
The recital was also an immersive experience for the audience, providing a rare opportunity to feel the impactful vibrations of these beautiful percussion instruments in the hands of an expert.
Photo provided.
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Sue Kaufmann attended Claire Edwardes’ “Dual Attractor” the Primrose Potter Salon, Melbourne Recital Centre, on March 18, 2026.
