Manchester Collective: Bag of Bones

No one can outrun their past.

Take a pinch of a romantic song cycle, stir in some studio theatre and a touch of jazz, then filter the whole thing through a hessian sack of deep, dark Central European folklore… and you might be somewhere in the region of ‘Bag of Bones’, Alice Zawadzki’s bewitching new project for Manchester Collective.

Leading a cross-breed ensemble comprising keys, accordion and strings, Zawadzki has created a deeply personal piece of music theatre that grapples with the cultural history and inherited stories that run back through her life to her Polish roots.

There are no sweet jazz songs in this landscape, but somehow, lightness always finds a way through the dark. Brand new music sits alongside a set curated by Alice and the Collective – a set that will transport listeners to strange and new lands.

The ink is not yet dry on this one. This is new music at its most thrilling, dangerous and cathartic.