exlRuth: Romeo's Fall
As part of Assembly 2024, exlRuth presents an original score, traversing romance and romanticism in a post-industrial North East England.
Performed by countertenor Nik Rawlings with accompanying double bass from Caius Williams, the vocal composition sits within a sonic collage of field recordings and drones mixed live by exlRuth (Ruth Hughes).
Drawing from traditional forms of 12th century choral music, classical romanticism and Makina, a contemporary dance music genre local to Hughes’ native Sunderland, Romeo’s Fall leads the audience through a mythic, emotive landscape that reaches beyond the physical.
exlRuth is one of three recipients of Somerset House Studios’ Music and Sound Residency, a 15-month residency for experimental music and sound shaped by Somerset House Studios in collaboration with artist mentors Paul Purgas, Nkisi, and Gaika.