A performance of a new longform continuous piece of music written specifically for our Cafe OTO residency and Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival.

“The way we perform [our songs]… we don’t hold back on the emotiveness,” says Nick Granata, organ player of Shovel Dance Collective. An ensemble of nine, the group journeys through the traditional folk of the British Isles with a modern political lens, exploring its relationship with queer culture, proto-feminist beliefs and working-class stories. Although traces of drone and metal can be heard in their work – including on 2022’s The Water is the Shovel of the Shore – their symphony of banjos, harps, flutes and citterns emits a calming energy most palpable at their live shows.