Simon Haram

In her recent work, Davies has found an accommodation between the worlds of the avant-garde and experimental rock, between – in the words of one critic – Xenakis and Prince. Filled with sounds of cracking, slapping, whipping and scraping, it is music that is utterly contemporary, inhabiting the same urban landscape as industrial techno and electronica.

The works on this new recording include make black white, a reconstruction of Dowland’s Flow, My Tears performed by viol consort Concordia; the ritualistic Dark Ground for percussion (Joby Burgess); Loopholes and Lynchpins, a reworking – or unravelling even – of Scarlatti's keyboard sonata (Huw Watkins) and the title work, spine, performed by the ensemble Azalea, inspired by the composer's interest in trilobites: ancient creatures of the Paleozoic era. The large scale structure of the work imitates the way in which trilobites grow: by releasing segments from the front of the tail, and continuing to moult and grow until six segments had been formed.

Renowned British composer Dave Heath was commissioned to write a piece of music dedicated to the memory of Wall Street journalist Daniel Pearl who was tragically murdered in Pakistan by Jihadi extremists. The piece Elegy for Daniel Pearl, was used by Muslim filmmaker Ahmed Jamal as the theme music to his moving and powerful documentary tribute to Daniel, The Journalist and The Jihadi, which was shown on HBO and CNN in 2006 and recently nominated for two Emmys in New York.