‘Only in the Dark’ is a 45-minute musical work in eight movements for cello and electronics by cellist/composer Annie Blythe (she/they) and composer/sound designer Brendon Randall-Myers (he/him).
The album will be accompanied by a limited edition ‘sensory kit’, curated and designed by Blythe, containing tactile and otherwise sensuous items that correspond to individual movements and sonic trajectories within the work and that can enhance, modulate, or de-escalate the listener’s experience according to their own particular neurological preferences and curiosities.
The music grew from the composers’ respective experiences as neurodiverse individuals and their shared journeys around understanding their own histories and neurologies. Blythe instigated this collaboration as a way to sustain herself through and heal from a particularly dark depression and the collective work is motivated by the duo’s respective sensory sensitivities, a desire to honor and affirm connections with their bodies and emotions, and by a desire for creative community.
The resulting music transforms expressions of grief and loss into a requiem of hope. It is by turns tender, psychedelic, and haunting, reflecting a deep well of emotion.
‘Only in the Dark’ was made possible by a grant from the American Composers Forum with funds provided by the Jerome Foundation, and by a grant from the Café Royal Cultural Foundation.
Release date TBA for 2025 (: