Raymond Antrobus & Evelyn Glennie – Aloud (Toy Gun Murder Records, 2025)
Poet Raymond Antrobus and percussionist Evelyn Glennie reunite for the album Aloud. The release continues their collaboration as two prominent deaf artists.
This project is essentially a fascinating, poetic, spoken word recording with a soundtrack that consists of sound effects that support the narrative.
Producer Ian Brennan, Grammy winner with credits including Tinariwen, Zomba Prison Project, Ustad Saami, and Parchman Prison Project, captured the album live in a single U.K. afternoon. No rehearsal took place; most tracks are first takes. Glennie improvised her parts without prior knowledge of the poems.
Evelyn Glennie is a talented solo percussionist and remains the only deaf musician to win a Grammy, a feat she has achieved twice alongside five additional nominations. Her nearly fifty albums and collaborations span Björk, Fred Frith, Béla Fleck, Bobby McFerrin, and filmmaker Danny Boyle. The documentary Touch the Sound profiles her work, and honors include the Polar Music Prize and the UK’s Royal Academy of Music Award. Her mission: “teach the world to listen.”
Raymond Antrobus, a Jamaican-British poet and Ted Hughes Award recipient, has performed at festivals across South Africa, Kenya, the United States, Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, Nigeria, Ireland, and Italy. His collection The Perseverance was named Poetry Book of the Year (2019) by The Guardian and The Sunday Times. His writing frequently addresses deaf experience and the racism he faced as the son of a Jamaican immigrant father.
The creative method on Aloud is direct. Glennie shaped “soundscapes” in real time as Antrobus delivered each poem. “In all my years of playing, this is something I’ve never done, collaborating with a poet,” she said. “It is an entirely new approach.” Brennan adds that the project rests on “the exceptional artistry of these two artists,” noting that their deafness is incidental to the work.
Words: Raymond Antrobus. Music: Evelyn Glennie. Additional musical accompaniment & loops: Ian Brennan.
Produced, engineered, mixed & mastered by Ian Brennan.
Photos & video by Marilena Umuhoza Delli.
Track Listing
- The Union of Laughter
- Sound Machine
- On Being a Son
- Resolutions
- To Sweeten Bitter
- MBE (An Award from the UK’s Queen)
- The Grass and Me
- I Want the Confidence of
- Thin States 10. Give Thanks II
- Missed Salutations
- To the William Blake Professor (bonus track, alternate version with waterphone)
- Signs, Music (bonus track, alternate version with drums)
Author: Angel Romero
Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.