Upcoming shows
Since disbanding his eponymous trio and becoming a solo artist in 2018, pianist Neil Cowley has introduced elements of ambient, electronic and neoclassical music into his sound, having established himself as an esteemed pianist, composer and producer. In 2021 came Hall of Mirrors, Cowley’s magnum opus, his first solo album and the truest realisation yet of his unending love affair with the piano.
Recorded in Berlin, the album featured piano arrangements filtered through a prism of production tricks, with support from Clash, Mojo and Uncut plus radio support from BBC 6 Music, Radio 1, Radio 2 and Radio 3. Returning to the stage, Neil celebrated the Hall of Mirrors release with a sold-out show at London’s Islington Assembly Hall in May 2021 and ended the year with a two-night residency at London’s Southbank Centre.
With a unique visual backdrop of vintage TV sets, Cowley inhabits his personal musical playspace on stage surrounded by keyboards and electronics, in a captivating display of artistry and showmanship.
Battery Life is released on 24th March 2023 and the Spring sees Neil tour extensively in the UK with shows in Germany, Ireland and The Netherlands.
“Battery Life is an album of abstract memories and stolen excerpts. It is my perception of the past before the detail is filled in. Blurred pictures, strange details, a feeling, a smell and above all the freedom to redefine the past at my whim. In an age where we are able to archive virtually any amount of life experience at the press of a button, it calls into question the value of a memory, both undetailed and detailed.”
– Neil Cowley
“Like slow-motion hymns, working within deliberately constricted melodic phrases but always wringing out a quiet grandeur and a beautiful sadness”
– The Guardian
“A voyage into a wider world of atmospherics. Exquisite”
– Metro
“Immersed in the electro-acoustic settings associated with Nils Frahm or Olafur Arnalds but unlike them Cowley brings considerable improvisational chops”
– Uncut
“Emotional strength through soft sophistication”
– Electronic Sound
“Soothing brilliance”
– Future Music
“Superb compositions that have incredible depth and elicit strong feelings”
– Louder Than War
“Utterly compelling…an early candidate for album of the year”
– A Closer Listen
“The range of never-gratuitous effects complementing the sometimes minimalist piano lines is considerable, bringing to mind, at various points, Martin Hannett and Burial”
– The Line Of Best Fit