Abgesagt | PHORIA & STRING QUARTET

In the organizer's words:

Letting go is hard, but it is often all the more rewarding. Phoria's third studio album River Oblivion is an excellent example of this. For this album, band leader Trewin Howard had to break completely new ground and leave familiar paths - driven by the desire to write exactly the music he wanted to write. Completely without compromise.
Formed in Brighton in 2010, the band has carved out a firm place for itself in the modern British music landscape over the past 13 years, creating haunting, beautiful and poignant soundscapes that seem to know no bounds. Her 2016 debut album Volition introduced Phoria as an electronic sound explorer, before effortlessly veering towards contemporary classical for 2020's follow-up Caught A Black Rabbit. A breathtaking, orchestral work that was recorded live at Abbey Road.
However, the question of what to do next after the highly acclaimed second album seemed to paralyze Trewin Howard's creativity. Thoughts about what his bandmates, the fans or the industry expected of him weighed heavily.
"You have to let things flow rather than construct them and limit them to what you've imagined," Howard explains, describing River Oblivion and its return to electronic elements as "the really difficult second album" for Phoria, despite it being their third LP. "[This record] came about when I let go of everything that I thought was expected of me, and then it just came out automatically."
The result is an album that meanders through captivating layers of electronics, occasionally plunging into darkness only to emerge through carefree melodies. And while Howard has had to learn to let go in order to find his way forward, he sees the need for society to do the exact opposite. The title of the album was inspired by his frustration at how much has been lost and forgotten in the world. The album is also a testament to his belief that we have to fight really hard to preserve what is valuable and to look critically at what is nonsense and superfluous.
Some of these thoughts stem from his concern about the state of culture and music in our time. He feels that these areas are clouded by some of the same issues that first hampered his work on River Oblivion - namely, that creativity, and consequently authenticity, is too compromised by other people's desires and expectations. "We are too busy thinking about how we are perceived (...) People have forgotten how important beauty is and how important it is to feel something transcendent".
And although the world and the music industry have changed a lot since Phoria was founded over a decade ago, many things have remained constant in her own environment. While there has been no shortage of opportunities to explore other avenues, Phoria are still independent and signed to their first label Akira Records - a wonderful example of Howards prioritizing his music to feel completely free in his art.
The next turnaround in Phoria's history may be on the cards for 2024. While the successor to River Oblivion is already in the works, the new Phoria will go on tour in April. The ethos of River Oblivion will be retained: Freedom is also the focus on stage and the aim is to literally just go for it - without wasting any thought on how the result will come across. This promises to be a very special tour with unique concerts.