Released in October 2023 on the Ergodos label, Strange Waves is a collaboration between Ed Bennett and Kate Ellis. The work blends music for eight cellos with field recordings made on the County Down coast and on Ireland’s northernmost island, Rathlin, in the North Atlantic. The music unfolds with an extraordinary sense of inevitability: Dense constellations of rapid figures evolve into rich, swirling synth-like textures. Ravishing microtonal sonorities overlap hypnotically with the steady pulse of lapping waves. Surreal chorales are revealed slowly, deliberately – at once mysterious and reassuringly, uncommonly elegant. ‍

“Growing up by the Irish sea, the sound of waves has been ever present in my life and in recent years has found its way into the music. At first, I didn’t notice this, but as I started to hear overlapping textures and loops in my work, I realised that there was something about this seemingly endless quality I was seeking.” Ed Bennett