SV + CC Present: Son Lux • Emily Wells
Fri 05/06/22
8:00PM
18+
music
$30 ADV // $35 DOS
Show Lineup
Son Lux
(NYC)
Genre: Experimental
Son Lux is a geographically and culturally diverse band, with Rafiq Bhatia, Ian Chang, and Ryan Lott each bringing their unique sonic approach to create an otherworldly whole. Son Lux’s balancing of raw emotional intimacy and meticulous electronic constructions, coupled with the act of distilling their varied influences, has most strongly shaped their identity. Arriving at a time of considerable uncertainty in the world, their latest release Tomorrows, a long-format album released in three volumes over the course of the past year, is ambitious in scope and intent. The anxiety and urgency that define our present moment find parallels on Tomorrows, a procession from the external to the internal. Born of an active, intentional approach to shaping sound, the music reminds us of the necessity of questioning assumptions, and of sitting with the tension.
Emily Wells
(Amarillo, TX)
Genre: Pop
“Quietly transfixing” composer / producer Emily Wells is known for her varied use of classical and modern instrumentation, “a master of blending the worlds of classical and electronics” (NPR) and “dramatic, meticulous and gothic songs” (New York Times). On stage Wells’ builds a “new instrument” out of acoustic and electronic drums, synth, violin, and her evocative performances leave audiences equal parts dancing and grieving. Wells’ latest work, This World is Too _____ For You released in March has been hailed by NPR as “breathtaking” “mind-blowing” and “visionary”. The ten song album, arranged for chamber ensemble by composer Michi Wiancko, was commissioned by Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra’s Liquid Music Series and Metropolis Ensemble who performs on the album along with drummer / composer Shayna Dunkelman (Du Yun, Xiu Xiu).
“The new songs are the rub between desire for, and desire to strip oneself of all wanting” Wells says of the new material, which clamors around all the edges, and sometimes into the center of our collective uncertainties.
“I grew up with hymns and I often find myself drawn to a form that seeks redemption, even for transgressions unknown… they are an offering, an oath. As a queer kid raised in the south and the midwest by a music minister and a preacher’s daughter I am interested in the reclamation of themes and ideas that have often been used to constrain me.” Of Wells’ video work, which accompanies her performances, she says, “the video and the songs are mirrors of one another: grace, the body, movement, and the natural world, beating against our windows, drunk with the answer.”