When: 7.30pm on Saturday 22 April 2023
Where: Hallé at St Michael’s, 36-38 George Leigh Street, Ancoats, Manchester M4 5DG

We’re delighted to be working with Neil Cowley for the first time.

Since disbanding his eponymous trio and becoming a solo artist in 2018, pianist Neil Cowley has introduced elements of ambient, electronic and neoclassical music into his sound, having established himself as an esteemed pianist, composer and producer. In 2021 came Hall of Mirrors, Cowley’s magnum opus, his first solo album and the truest realisation yet of his unending love affair with the piano. Recorded in Berlin, the album featured piano arrangements filtered through a prism of production tricks, with support from Clash, Mojo and Uncut plus radio support from BBC 6 Music, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3. Returning to the stage, Neil celebrated the Hall of Mirrors release with a sold-out show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall in May 2021 and ended the year with a two-night residency at London’s Southbank Centre.

With a unique visual backdrop of vintage TV sets, Cowley inhabits his personal musical playspace on stage surrounded by keyboards and electronics, in a captivating display of artistry and showmanship.

Battery Life is released on 24 March 2023 and the Spring sees Neil tour extensively in the UK with shows in Belgium, Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands.

‘Battery Life is an album of abstract memories and stolen excerpts,’ Cowley says. ‘It is my perception of the past before the detail is filled in. Blurred pictures, strange details, a feeling, a smell and above all the freedom to redefine the past at my whim. In an age where we are able to archive virtually any amount of life experience at the press of a button, it calls into question the value of a memory, both undetailed and detailed.’

‘Like slow-motion hymns, working within deliberately constricted melodic phrases but always wringing out a quiet grandeur and a beautiful sadness’ – The Guardian

‘A voyage into a wider world of atmospherics. Exquisite’ – Metro

Special guest is Simeon Walker. Leeds-based pianist and composer Simeon Walker has quickly emerged as a leading light in the burgeoning Modern Classical scene, following the release of Mono and Winnow, his two albums to date. Simeon regularly performs and tours across the UK and Europe; has supported a variety of artists including S. Carey, LYR, Sebastian Plano, Loscil, Erland Cooper and Taz Modi; and performed notable live sets at Latitude and Timber festivals. His latest single Reverie features on the first official Piano Day compilation by the LEITER label, alongside Nils Frahm, Olafur Arnalds and Chilly Gonzales.

This will be one of the first public concerts in St Michael’s since its recent re-opening, having been closed since 2004. The Roman Catholic church was founded in 1859 and became the heart of the Little Italy Community in Ancoats.

Age restriction: 14+. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult.

Buy tickets now. Tickets are also available from Dice.fm, WeGotTickets.com, Ticketline.co.uk and on 0871 220 0260.

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