Past event
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7pm - 7.30pm | Helen Ganya |
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7.30pm - 7.50pm | interval |
7.50pm - 9pm | NESS |
Orford Ness, a ten-mile-long shingle spit on the coast of Suffolk, is a place of paradox, mystery and constant evolution. Where wind, waves and birdlife make their own music, it’s now joined on Hayden Thorpe’s new album Ness with his human voice singing words written by best-selling place writer Rob Macfarlane in his 2019 novella of the same name.
The ambition and sonic breadth Ness album comes as a poignant and cinematic response to cultural conversations around the environment. Macfarlane describes the music Thorpe has crafted from his words as ‘an incredible alchemy’. In keeping with Thorpe’s previous work, the music’s intention is singular and its execution refreshingly uncompromised.
The unexpected is in the nature of Ness. In the early twentieth century, Orford’s remote coastal location made it the ideal location for top-secret military research and testing, from bombs and missiles to the components for Britain’s nuclear deterrent. Huge concrete pagodas, designed to collapse in the event of an accidental explosion, loom over shingle strewn with rusted steel and crumbling buildings. It’s therefore appropriate that Ness is not what you might expect from music inspired by place, which tends to lean on the textural, or ambient, lacking a human presence. In voicing this landscape, Thorpe continues to evolve the full-blooded songwriting with which he made his name in his old band Wild Beasts on their run of five critically acclaimed albums between 2002 and 2017.
About Robert MacFarlane
Robert Macfarlane is a bestselling, award-winning author who is internationally renowned for his writing on nature, people and place. His books include Underland, Landmarks, The Old Ways, The Wild Places and Mountains of the Mind. His work has been translated into more than thirty languages, won prizes around the world, and been widely adapted for film, music, theatre, radio and dance. He has also written operas, plays, and films including River and Mountain, both narrated by Willem Dafoe. As a lyricist, he has written songs and albums with musicians including Cosmo Sheldrake, Karine Polwart and Johnny Flynn, with whom he has released two albums, Lost In The Cedar Wood and The Moon Also Rises and an EP, Six Signs.
This event will last approximately 2 hours hours, including an interval.
About Helen Ganya
Brighton-based, Scottish-Thai musician Helen Ganya experiments with existentially-driven lyrics and off-kilter sounds to create a layered musical landscape. On her new album polish the machine (Bella Union), she stretches away from the suburban nightmare, seeking a cathartic reprieve that looks beyond the ordinary.
Ganya has been releasing music since 2015 (formerly under the moniker Dog in the Snow). In the records she’s put out over the years, she’s shown a proclivity towards dark and artful rock and off-kilter sounds, garnering praise from the likes of the Sunday Times, Uncut, Clash, Loud & Quiet and more. But her new album, Share Your Care, marks a new era, building on Ganya’s past sonic worlds and interspersing them with traditional Thai instrumentation, resulting in a plush, luminous, psych-tinged affair that is full of feeling. Share Your Care is out 7 Feb 2025 via Bella Union.
Getting here
Kings Place is situated just a few minutes’ walk from King’s Cross and St Pancras stations, one of the most connected locations in London and now the biggest transport hub in Europe.
Our address is:
90 York Way, London, N1 9AG.
The Venue
Our performance spaces are situated on the lower ground floor. Hall One, Hall Two and St Pancras are located in level -2, reached by stairs, escalator and lift from the ground floor entrance level.
Event Times
Door times indicate auditorium entrance times only. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the Kings Place seating areas, gallery-level art, canal-side terrace, café, restaurant and bar throughout the day and evening.
We aim to make your visit to Kings Place as comfortable as possible. For more information about the accessibility of Kings Place, including details about our Access Scheme, please visit this page.
If you would like to discuss your access requirements with a member of our team, please get in touch with the Box Office team at info@kingsplace.co.uk.
Rotunda Bar & Restaurant
Rotunda, situated on the ground floor of Kings Place, offers a unique dining and drinking experience alongside Regent’s Canal. The concert bar in the venue foyer will also be open for select events.
Green & Fortune Café
Recently re-furbished and now open with a new look, the Green & Fortune Café is open for selected concerts. Serving hot and cold food and drinks, including sandwiches, salads, soup, stew and a pie of the day, alongside a choice of cakes made by the on-site bakery team. See here for selected concert dates and standard opening hours.