Conceptual voice-focused collective
Who they?
“An exploration of the human voice,” Shards are a London-based vocal collective headed by singer, composer and producer Kieran Brunt. They combine synths, vocals and percussion to create miniature sonic soundscapes with heavy emphasis on the “voice”, using vocal chords as an instrument in their own right.
Why Shards?
Having collaborated with Terry Riley back in 2016, Brunt was asked by the Barbican to form a choral group for the Possibly Colliding festival, an event curated by Nils Frahm. On the success of that, Frahm invited Brunt to Berlin to collab on the choral arrangements of his most recent record ‘All Melody’. And now Shards have their own LP on the way, their debut ‘Find Sound’. Recorded over a two-week period in Italy, the group were able to experiment with various recording techniques while all under the same roof. Cosy.
Tell us more…
“I decided to go for 12 singers, capable of creating a good amount of noise, but also small enough to get to know each other intimately,” explains Brunt as to how Shards was put together. “I also knew that I wanted to work with not just great voices, but singers with lots of personality and open minds when it comes to experimenting and trying things out. I also tried my best to ask people who weren’t just singers, but who do have other projects and musical interests. It’s a vibrant mix, and I’m constantly discovering new things about them the more we make music together.”
‘Find Sound’ is out on Erased Tapes
