‘I do believe music can have positive effects on your life’, James Black told the Danish music journal Seismograf in 2018; ‘if nothing else, it will get you out of the house’.
In March 2020, not even music could do that. Just after the world ground to a halt, Black found himself in receipt of a large working grant from the Danish Arts Foundation. He had the means to compose, and the lockdown would give him a motive for the specific project he set his mind to.
The recording, music is not always participatory is what he produced – an album bound by restriction and that flirts with failure, but delivers powerfully on the fundamentals of art and expression. In spite of all restrictions, James Black managed to include two collaborations on the album, and thus Bára Gísladóttir and Connor McLean both contribute to the album.
music is not always participatory is released as a digital album at Dacapo Records on 29 January. Listen here >>
Watch the full interview with James Black here >>