BIG EARS 2017: Anna Meredith

In Music Stories by Nick Huinkerleave a COMMENT

Looking over her body of work, it’s hard to find a more prototypical Big Ears pick than Anna Meredith. The young composer has made a name for herself in her native U.K. and beyond with a wide range of projects, from Kronos Quartet commissions and multimedia Vivaldi arrangements to compositions for percussion, beat-boxers, MRI scanners, and even off-brand Playstation dance mats. She’s even mentored drum-and-bass legend Goldie in classical composition for a BBC documentary.

But when Meredith takes the stage on Big Ears’ opening night, art-hungry crowds may find themselves caught off guard by her most recent pivot: crowd-pleasing electronic pop.

“It definitely wasn’t a considered transition—more of a broadening,” Meredith says of the material from her debut album, Varmints, which has drawn glowing coverage from the mainstream music press. “I’m still doing loads of conventional ‘classical’ work—I’m just enjoying the variety of things I’m up to at the moment.”

Live performances have proven to be an outsized element of that variety. As Varmints’ profile grew following its release last spring, so did demand for gigs along the European indie-rock circuit; Meredith estimates her live band played 35 shows in 2016, up from an average of two or three in the years before that.

Before they could take the record on the road, however, Meredith took to a more familiar task: arranging Varmints for her six-piece touring band, which includes a tuba and two cellos alongside a more traditional power trio lineup of guitar, drums, and vocals. Considering the record’s spectrum of sonic wit, from the brassy tromp of opener “Nautilus” to arpeggiated earworms like “Dowager,” this was a tall but welcome order.

“We had to rethink what the live version might be and adapt the electronic elements to give space for the instruments,” she says. “I’ve also got some band members who weren’t on the record, so it’s been great to bring their voices into the mix, too.”

Meredith is clearly thrilled with her work reaching such an unexpectedly wide audience, and with the new opportunities the exposure has opened up.

“So far, so amazing,“ she says of her brief U.S. tour, which wraps up in Knoxville. “It’s hard, as a visiting band, not to get excited by just how brilliant and exciting it is to be here.”

Unfortunately, the band is due back in the U.K. before the weekend is out. As disappointed as she is to be missing out on the rest of Big Ears (“Gutted!”, as she puts it), Meredith seems ready for whatever phase is next.

“This past year has been so bonkers, and such a change, in terms of lifestyle, for me, I’m really trying to plan and predict as little as possible,” she says. “Certainly my plan is to write a new album this year and I guess perform it next year, but there’s so much crazy shit going on in the world just now I’m trying to just roll with the moment as much as I can.”

Anna Meredith performs at the Mill and Mine (224 W. Depot St.) on Thursday, March 23, at 9:30 p.m. 

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Nick Huinker is fortunate to have spent the past 15 years living and covering Knoxville’s near-constant DIY music renaissance. Once a year he does his best to return the cultural favor as producer of the Knoxville Horror Film Fest; most of the rest of the time he’s of limited use.

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