Grey Lantern

Merope’s roots lie deep in the soil of Lithuania's folk songs, connecting them with ideas from across the cultural map. Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė's kanklės and singing are the foundation of their celestial ambient folk reinterpretations, joined by ornate, experimental guitar and electronics from Belgian multi-instrumentalist Bert Cools, creating an intimate soundscape and guiding the duo towards the unknown. Diving into ancestral words and melodies, they present a contemporary vision of ancient Baltic music. Tangling elements gleaned from jazz, traditional, ambient music, 20th century minimalism and kosmische into their moving, humanist compositions, they provide a soundtrack for today's international landscape.

There's a sense of spontaneity and playfulness hanging in the air around Merope's fifth album (Stroom/granvat) that's palpable from the very beginning. The duo of Lithuanian singer and kanklės player Indrė Jurgelevičiūtė and guitarist/producer Bert Cools, Merope are kissed by the winds of change on 'Vėjula', a self-styled musical rebirth that confidently fosters their ongoing narrative. It's their most experimental full-length to date, spreading its arms to embrace collaborations with like-minded artists Shahzad Ismaily, Laraaji and Bill Frisell. And while 'Vėjula' still roots itself in Lithuanian folk forms, it sprouts out spiritedly from that point into unfamiliar landscapes, muddling ancient themes with contemporary philosophies, concepts and technologies.

This is an 18+ event

Merope

Merope - Vilnia (feat. Bert Cools, Indre Jurgeleviciute, Jean-Christophe Bonnafous & Jauna Muzika Choir)

merope - Ei Dvipa

Gigs

Manchester

Salford Sacred Trinity Church

Jennifer Walton is a beloved figure across various sectors of the alternative music underground. Outside of her own music and soundtrack work, she has been a live drummer for Kero Kero Bonito, collaborates with Sarah Midori Perry on the pair’s Cryalot project, has remixed Metronomy and worked with Iceboy Violet, BABii, Gentle Stranger and more. She also makes music and DJs with close friends aya and 96 Back under the name Microplastics, and recently contributed to London collective caroline’s acclaimed caroline 2 album.

She plays Manchester in support of her phenomenal debut album Daughters, out via Local Action Records.

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Support Black Brunswicker creates rich ground for reflection with roaming instrumentals closely rooted in nature, casting a restful spell. The Bloomington, Indiana-born/U.K.-based artist grew up in the Midwest and brings the sweeping plains of the landscape into their expansive guitar-led sound, drawing you closer to something primordial, vast, and earthy.

Jennifer Walton

Sometimes

Jennifer Walton - Born Again Backwards

Black Brunswicker

Low Four Studio

In 2016 with the blessing of David Lynch and Angelo Badalamenti, Xiu Xiu released and toured the surprisingly successful album and concert Plays the Music of Twin Peaks. Out of respect and deference to the beloved series they band decided to put the concert to rest in 2018. After the recent and untimely passing of David Lynch the band began to receive several high profile requests to revive their interpretation of this iconic music. However, in wanting to always try to follow, honor and continue to be inspired by the incredibly high bar of artistic challenge set by David Lynch, Xiu Xiu is instead going deeper.

ERASERHEAD XIU XIU is new a live concert with accompanying film that uses field recordings, concert specific homemade instruments, organ, modular synths, vocals, flashlights, electrical interference and elements of musique concrete to express the bizarre emotionality, conflicted sexuality, relentless darkness and singularly unsettled moonscape of this most incredible of midnight masterpieces.

The original sound design and score by Alan Spelt and Lynch serve as guide wires to Xiu Xiu's sonic expansion of how they have been affected by them as fans and musicians. The original film gives birth to Xiu Xiu's visual lens through which to be baffled and pummeled by the band's imaginary unused auxiliary footage.

Is it a short term art installation, an exploded tribute to a cinematic triumph, epitaph to an idol, via an entirely new work? YES

Is it intense, odd, curious and shrouded in the gloomiest of nights?

OF COURSE, after all it is Eraserhead.

This is an 14+ event - under 18s to be accompanied by an adult.

ERASERHEAD XIU XIU

Xiu Xiu - Fabulous Muscles

Xiu Xiu - Into the Night

Xiu Xiu

Gorilla

Kontravoid’s masked mystique has remained for over a decade. Ever since the release of his self-titled LP in 2012, the Canadian-born, Los Angeles-based Cameron Findlay has perfected dark pop with his oeuvre that teeters between the EBM, electro and goth genres. His productions, such as 2019’s “Too Deep” and 2021’s “Faceless,” dive to the most derelict corners of foggy, strobe-lit clubs: there is no choice but to dance. But there is an uncanny softness and obvious songwriting ability to compose heart-wrenching songs that are both captivating and drenched in melancholy—2018’s “Undone” has been a fan favorite since it came out on Berlin’s Fleisch Records. Onstage, Kontravoid demands the audience’s attention with his powerful performance that balances his specific concoction of harsh beats with his signature bass line rhythmic patterns. He’s toured alongside Boy Harsher, ADULT., Drab Majesty and Hide, and has remixed the likes of Schwefelgelb and Kris Baha. Truly a man of the shadows, Kontravoid is an unparalleled fixture in the dark electronic arena.

Kontravoid

Native State

Kontravoid - Native State (Kontravoid Remix)

Nuxx

Soup

Acclaimed pianist and composer Kelly Moran returns to Manchester for an electronic set following the announcement of her bold, propulsive new album titled Don’t Trust Mirrors, out on Warp.

Kelly Moran

Kelly Moran - Echo in the Field

Lebanon Hanover are an ice cold reply to the alienated world coming from two warm beating hearts. Larissa Iceglass and William Maybelline appear as true romantics of the modern age, admiring William Wordsworth, fascinated by the beauty of art nouveau aesthetics, exploring British seashores and forests at night, whilst being inspired by the urbanism of Berlin.

They play their biggest Manchester show to-date at Academy 2.

All ages welcome. Under 16s must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

Lebanon Hanover

Gallowdance

Lebanon Hanover - Gallowdance

Manchester Academy 2

claire rousay returns to Manchester after a sold out 2024 performance this time for a very different kind of set in support of latest album a little death.

claire's music cascades from a well of documented experience, reflections of the past that compose the present. A prolific multi-instrumentalist, producer, and composer, rousay gracefully crafts boundaryless music. From her frequent and acclaimed collaborations to her film scoring, from her own compositions to her solo pop work, rousay’s music is delicate yet powerful, carefully constructed with a casual intimacy. rousay collages a wealth of found sounds and field recordings with earthy strings, stately piano, and processed instrumentation, all of which trace the outlines of memories and distinct impressions and create a complex constellation of feeling. a little death illustrates rousay’s ability to sculpt sonic microcosms from disparate raw materials, worlds where sound and feeling are one in the same. Shaped around field recordings she captured at dusk, the album is an homage to the gentle drifts and lurking disquiet of twilight.

claire rousay

discrete (the market)

claire rousay - Conditional Love

Hallé at St Michaels

Originally from Guadalajara and now based in Ensenada, Baja California, Lorelle Meets The Obsolete formed in 2011 around the core duo of Lorena Quintanilla and Alberto González. They quickly caught the attention of the psych scene with their first two albums, On Welfare and Corruptible Faces.  
  
Since signing with UK label Sonic Cathedral in 2013, the band has toured extensively across Mexico, the UK, Europe, and the US. Over the past decade, their sound has gradually evolved from its psychedelic roots toward a more exploratory direction, incorporating analog synths and sonic search reminiscent of bands like Wire. This progression is evident across albums such as Chambers, Balance, De Facto, and Datura. Along the way, they’ve collaborated with artists like Emma Anderson (Lush), Dälek, and Pye Corner Audio, and have earned fans in the likes of Henry Rollins and Iggy Pop.

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete 

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete - Abyss of the Future

Lorelle Meets The Obsolete

YES Basement

One of the UK’s most influential creators of electronic music, Rival Consoles, returns with a brand new audio-visual live show, centred around his new album Landscape from Memory — marking a new chapter in an ongoing quest for refinement and evolution.

London-based producer Ryan Lee West, better known under the name Rival Consoles, is notable for making synthesisers sound human and atmospheric. Over the course of a critically acclaimed eighteen-year career, his music has diversified from the challenging electronic output of his early EPs, to gradually becoming more conceptual and metamorphic with his albums.

In July 2025 Rival Consoles released his latest studio album Landscape from Memory on Erased Tapes, and is presenting it with a brand new unique performance that will take the form of an immersive audio-visual experience in which he will present material from across the last 15 years of his career and beyond. From deep ambient works to his unique version of techno, and traversing the vast spectrum in between, the show will be a long-form narrative of ideas — many heard live for the first time — with visuals co-created and performed live by Sky Ainsbury.

“Impossible to ignore, and hard to forget” — Pitchfork

“Ambient leaning, mind expanding electronics” — DJ Mag

Grey Lantern

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