Hidden Orchestra - Creaks: Bonus, Live & Remixes (2022)

This unusual collection of music brings a further seven previously-unreleased tracks from the original Creaks soundtrack, plus two extensively re-imagined live band versions, and seven remixes from a very diverse set of artists, all interspersed to create an adventurous yet cohesive new album. ​​Here, the Hidden Orchestra sound-world – a headily rhythmic, escapist and expansive sonic space where electronic/bass, folk and post-rock influences combine – is stretched and complemented by forays into colourful, dancefloor-ready experimental techno, delicately plucked ambient/modern-classical pieces, blasts of bass clarinet free jazz, and even a dalliance with cutting-edge AI technology.

The bonus tracks include some which appear by popular demand; some of the music from the interactive mini-game paintings; and an exclusive, AI-generated cello-and-clarinets-only version of the soundtrack’s main theme. The latter is an arrangement generated by the same AI that controls the music in the game – which chooses multiple layers of the clarinets of Jack McNeill and the cello of Rebecca Knight at the start of each loop, and would carry on infinitely with no detectable repetition.

The live versions of Bridges and Three Islands were recorded at neimënster in Luxembourg in May 2022 with the latest version of the Hidden Orchestra live lineup, featuring Jack and Rebecca alongside Joe Acheson on bass and electronics and Jamie Graham on drums - the live sound and the studio mix were done by engineer Tim Southorn. The latest incarnation of the live band sees the emphasis shift from replicating the studio tracks accurately on stage, towards focussing on extracting the energy and emotion from the material, and this is especially well represented in the re-interpretation of Three Islands.