In the summer of 2017, Studio Voltaire hosted French artist, performer and musician, Lætitia Sadier, for the gallery’s first music residency.

Following the success of her Europe-wide tour in Spring 2017, Sadier and her collaborators, Batsch, embarked upon an exploration into the effects of sound on the body, in what the artist calls ‘an exercise in reconnection’. Incorporating meditative techniques such as the use of binaural beats, and paying homage to eastern philosophies, the group will translate different facets of human emotion through the music they compose.The project aimed to directly access core emotion through sound. In Sadier’s own words: “Intellect is overrated. The real intellect is in feeling. The problem is we are being removed from our bodies and nature. There is an innate intelligence in our bodies, from which we are being castrated.

Open rehearsals took place throughout the residency, and a live closing performance of new material produced at Studio Voltaire, entitled Diggers, was held during the residency’s final weekend.

This commission has been generously supported by Fluxus Art Projects.

Laetitia Sadier is an artist, performer and musician with a career spanning 25 years. In 1990 she formed Stereolab with Tim Gane, receiving critical acclaim for albums such as Transient Random Noise Bursts with Announcements (1993); Mars Audiac Quintet (1995); and Emperor Tomato Ketchup (1996). Other collaborations include Blur, Luna, the High Llamas, Mouse on Mars and Tyler, the Creator. Sadier’s first solo album The Trip was released in 2010, with albums Silencio and Something Shines following in 2012 and 2014 respectively. The recently released project ‘Laetitia Sadier Source Ensemble: Find Me Finding You’ is touring throughout 2017.

Batsch are an indie pop quartet based in Coventry, England. Formed in 2013 by singer/guitarist Mason Le Long, bassist Joe Carvell, drummer Matt Rheeston and keyboardist/multi-instrumentalist Andy Whitehead, Batsch released their debut EP Tiles the same year, and its follow-up, Collar, in 2014. Their debut full length album Batch was released in April 2017 on Tin Angel Records. All four members have also toured extensively with other artists, including Laetitia Sadier, Marker Starling, Devon Sproule and Nicholas Krgovich.