Anna Meredith is a force of nature. In person she’s a lovely, hilarious and self-deprecating joy of a woman. On stage she is also all of those things, until the music starts, whereupon she’s an absolute beast. A rising experimental star in the classical music world (she did a Prom this year), she also makes exceptionally brilliant electronic music, and her new EP Black Prince Fury is one of the most exciting I’ve stumbled across in years. The single Nautilus is such a huge piece of music, it’s totally overwhelming live, and watching it at the Royal Festival Hall last week was a challenge – no photos or dancing allowed. The live show involved several incredible musicians, an assortement of childrens toys through the ages, space cats and an alligator wearing a NASA vest, live drawing and the best Celine Dion remix you will ever hear.
I took a step back from electronic music in general a couple of years ago because I often didn’t have the patience to sift through and find artists who were making genuinely unique and original music that wasn’t something I could only listen to in a club, something that resonated somewhere a bit deeper. When I first saw Anna live I felt much the same way I did when I first saw Flying Lotus, and promptly invited her to play on my line up at Soundwave Festival in Croatia – I think before introducing myself. She may not be striving for anonymity, have too many vowels in her name, and only have a vague (but growing) awareness of who J.Dilla is, but I would hope her talent would somewhat balance those shortcomings out…
Anna Meredith “Black Prince Fury” EP is out now on iTunes // Limited Edition 12″ Vinyl
