Multi-sensory performance

By James Manton

Melbourne’s Ella Thompson has come together with some of the state’s most promising artists to collaborate on the experimental and experiential “Like Running Water”.

Victoria’s Clio Renner, Sui Zhen, Prue Stent, and Sydney-based Honey Long round out the group, covering a wide range of skills and styles that come through in the performance.

Known for her stints with Dorsal Fins, GL, The Bamboos, and even performing with Mark Ronson on his Australian tour, Thompson combines her pop vocals with more classical forms of music, as well as stunning visuals, to provide a deconstruction of pop music for the audience.

“It’s a bit of an experiment,” Thompson said.

“Bringing together different artists that I admire and seeing what happens when we collaborate, it’s been really interesting growing from each other’s process.”

“It has strong visual elements and the way that the concept of water has influenced the music and the visuals. It’s been really great to have something that ties it all together.”

Like Running Water features a string and woodwind quartet combined with Zhen’s electronic style and Renner’s piano sounds.

“It’s kind of like a dream sequence,” Thompson said.

“There’s really minimal piano and strings for songs, and then moving into more electronic, bigger productions, so it kind of goes on a journey throughout the set.

“For it to be a female collaboration, it’s been a different process from what I normally work with.”

“We’ve been really supportive of each other’s ideas and the work isn’t about being all-female work, but we kind of wanted to let the music and visuals speak for themselves.”

Like Running Water will be held at the Melbourne Recital Centre on October 20.

For more information go to melbournerecital.com.au