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Klein (Experimental Music, 2020)39

Klein

Fellow in 2020 for Experimental Music

Klein’s work has been described as “grainy pop collages,” with elements like R&B-inspired vocals, heavily manipulated audio samples, and surreal metallic drones. AllMusic called her work “an utterly unique, surreal blend of R&B and experimental electronics.” She assembles her tracks in the sound editing program Audacity and cites some of her major influences as singer Brandy, composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, rapper Soulja Boy, and the reality TV show Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta. Klein describes her music with the word “spiral” as both a verb and adjective.

In 2018, after seeing her production A Coming of Age (Southbank, 2017) Klein was commissioned by the ICA to compose and direct a new musical, entitled Care (2018). Set in a care home where after a magical turn of events, the kids are transported into a mystical world, the production drew on themes of fantasy, fairytales and club culture.

Klein toured a “constantly evolving” live show for her new album Lifetime (2019) at venues such as the Serpentine and New York’s MoMA, involving extensive bands of instrumentalists, dancers and vocalists, as well as ‘technology suits’ which connect touch and sound, turning Klein’s hands into midi-controllers. Her albums Frozen (2020), Harmattan (2021) and Cave in the Wind (2022) were released to continued high acclaim.