Music / Reviews
Review: Submerge Festival, Dive
After precariously navigating our way to our seats in a very dark Lantern, we took a deep breath and prepared to completely immerse ourselves in two hours of hypnotic audio-visual beauty.
On the stage was a clear glass bowl of water. In the small amount of light that hovered over it, we could see some other unexplained raw objects, accompanied by some hardware and a microphone. A small amount of steam elevated from the bowl and behind that, stood Gil Delindro. H2O is a huge theme at this year’s Submerge festival, so there was no surprise that this evolutionary presentation revolved predominantly around the sounds created within an agitated bowl of water. Delindro started by creating small ripples in the water but by the end his head was in fact ‘completely submerged’ as he bellowed his voice through the liquid.
is needed now More than ever
As our eyes adjusted, we became aware of the huge mirror at the back of the stage. Dilindro had provided the paddle in the shallows and we were about to dive into a realm hosted by Emmanuel Biard and, one of my favourite producers, Koreless.
As the mirror was tilted into existence our ears were teased with the sound of inhales and exhales. Lasers bounced off the mirror and projected tadpole-like specs dancing across the ceiling. Koreless then led into his more familiar production style, as soulful electronics harmonised over raw, dark samples. The lasers then completely engulfed the room in bright white solid lines of light. It had an almost sci-fi feel to it, like you were travelling at light-speed towards a black hole at the centre of the room where the mirror was located. It was completely mesmerising and I cannot think of a better producer to accompany Biard’s story of lights.
Before we knew it the experience was over. Everyone in the room was completely enthralled and there was even a standing ovation. As we reached back into reality it was as though every individual had experienced their own short-lived epiphany.
Photos by Paul Blakemore