Profiles
Very Present Tense is a song-cycle charting the passage of a grief. Written by Christopher Simpson in response to the loss of his mother, it is a testament of love and a statement of becoming. The songs, referencing diverse musical idioms like blues and Rwandan folk, have been developed in collaboration with Tom Havelock to create an intimate harmonic landscape of loss, love and hope.
Very Present Tense premiered in Liverpool at Metal's historic Edge Hill Station arts hub on the 8th and 9th August 2008 with an ensemble comprising piano, string quartet, double bass, trumpet and saxophone.