By Owen Head
Solo Collective met through the Berlin music scene in 2016. Firstly Sebastian met Anne, who collaborated on Sebastian’s track Holy Island, which features on the record. The three then made their debut performances at sold out concerts in Berlin and Hannover in February 2017, and will be releasing their debut record, Part One, via Alex’s Nonostar Records.
Following the success of these first performances in Germany, the trio will tour the UK this September and November, coming to Oxford on September 17, at the Jacqueline du Pré Music Room.
Part One is strikingly coherent as a listening experience, moving between sonorous string ensemble composition, abrasive electronic textures, processed vocals and atmospheric, evocative piano.
The three musicians are all well established in their own right. Alex Stolze rose to European fame with his band Bodi Bill, who had a string of chart hits in Germany, and as a member of the internationally renowned modern jazz ensemble Dictaphone (Denovali Records). Alex has a long history with the Berlin techno scene, including co-founding Krakatau records. He is currently finishing the follow-up to his 2016 debut solo record, Mankind Animal.
Having previously spent many years touring and recording with Agnes Obel, Anne Müller is also well known as a long-term musical partner of Nils Frahm. Anne collaborated with Nils on many of his projects, including 2011’s 7fingers and the 2015 soundtrack for the motion picture Victoria, which won ‘Best Film Score’ at the German Film Awards. More recently Anne has been working with Nils’ Erased Tapes label mate Ben Lukas Boysen, and is making plans to release her debut solo album.
Sebastian Reynolds is a lynchpin of the UK experimental/alternative music scene, having led cult ensembles Keyboard Choir and Braindead Collective, as well as playing sax for The War On Drugs and working on recordings with former Slit Viv Albertine . In addition to the Solo Collective collaboration, Sebastian continues to operate as a solo artist, and is working on commissions to create scores for two contemporary dance works – the Thai-inspired Mahajanaka and Puzzle Creature – in collaboration with Neon Dance Company, known for their choreography/dance pieces which have featured scores by the likes of Nils Frahm, Efterklang and Peter Broderick.